Amazon places bid on TikTok as deadline looms
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Amazon reportedly has made a bid to buy TikTok, the popular video app that is in danger of being banned in the U.S. if it can’t reach a deal that would separate it from its Chinese owner.
Under a U.S. law signed by then-President Biden last year, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is required to sell off TikTok’s U.S. operations in order to address security concerns raised by legislators.
TikTok says it has invested billions of dollars to protect the data of its U.S. users. A ban would devastate the businesses and Americans who use the app, the company has said.
Amazon’s bid was first reported by the New York Times.
The Seattle tech giant declined to comment. TikTok and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Frank McCourt, the founder of Project Liberty and executive chairman of McCourt Global, has announced that Project Liberty is now organizing a bid to acquire TikTok in the U.S.
The original deadline for a deal was Jan. 19; President Trump extended it to April 5. It is possible Trump could extend it again.
The discussions around TikTok will play a role in U.S.-China relations, as the Chinese government would need to approve a sale. The Trump administration recently increased tariffs on Chinese goods.
“We view TikTok as one of the biggest and first chips on the poker table around U.S./China relations which have many complex facets to navigate over the coming years under the Trump administration,” Wedbush Securities tech analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a note to clients.
TikTok could be quite valuable to potential buyers. It has roughly 170 million American users, who sign on to the app for entertainment and shopping. TikTok stars have gone on to launch careers as brand ambassadors and headline TV shows and movies.
Ives said that any potential deal for TikTok would include Austin, Texas-based Oracle, TikTok’s cloud provider. Oracle already was involved in a framework of a deal during Trump’s first term in 2020 to acquire TikTok. Larry Ellison, Oracle’s billionaire co-founder, is known to have supported Trump.
Ives said he does not think the deal would include selling TikTok’s algorithm, as it would be a nonstarter for the Chinese government.
Other buyers interested in TikTok include an investment group led by Frank McCourt, a former Dodgers owner, whose bid includes “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary. San Francisco artificial intelligence company Perplexity said in March it wants to “rebuild the TikTok algorithm.”
Amazon’s bid is not being taken seriously by the Trump administration or other people involved in the discussions, according to Bloomberg and the New York Times.
As Trump threatens to impose more tariffs on other nations, Chinese manufacturers are going to greater lengths to dodge them.
If Amazon were to acquire TikTok, it could provide a significant boost to its online retail power. Almost half of U.S. TikTok users purchase items on the social platform, said Jasmine Enberg, Emarketer’s vice president of content, in a statement.
“Amazon’s reported bid is proof of TikTok’s prowess in ecommerce and the changing nature of how consumers shop and buy,” Enberg said. “The acquisition could strengthen Amazon’s position, particularly among younger shoppers who start and end their shopping journeys on TikTok or other social platforms.”
Tech giants have been making efforts to connect with Trump, including Amazon and its executive chairman, Jeff Bezos.
Amazon donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund and streamed the event on Prime Video, an in-kind donation worth $1 million, according to the Associated Press.
This month, Prime Video started streaming old seasons of Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice.” Amazon also has signed a deal to release a documentary on First Lady Melania Trump that will be shown in theaters and on the streaming platform this year.
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