The TikTok saga saw a lot of exciting additions today, as Walmart intimated CNBC that it might be interested in the Microsoft-TikTok deal, while Oracle also starts feigning interest in the social media platform.
TikTok has become privy to scrutiny from governments around the world, but its story in America has become the most controversial, especially due to its convoluted nature. First, Donald Trump announced to journalists about a month ago that a ban might be just around the corner. However, he later changed his tone after having a conversation with MS CEO Satya Nadella, and said that he’d be okay with an American company taking over the operations of the platform, as long as the American government gets a cut.
Later on, he signed an executive order, banning transactions with ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company), announcing an ultimatum for the Chinese tech giant to divest its stake in the platform by September 15, or face a ban. Since then, many companies have shown interest in the social media company (including Twitter), but Microsoft still remains the front runner.
While TikTok has already filed a lawsuit against the President’s ‘imminent’ ban, CNBC suggests that an announcement of a deal might be right around the corner.
Now, Walmart, which is also preparing to take the fight against Amazon using Walmart+, is supposedly becoming a part of Microsoft’s offer, which could be offering up anywhere from $20-$30 billion for TikTok’s U.S., Canadian, Australian and New Zealand operations.
This will help the retailer use TikTok’s reach in the world of Internet to market its new online offering, as well as gain access to 100s of millions of users in a single sweep.
While TikTok has not set a buyer yet, chances are that Microsoft/Walmart will bag the prize, especially considering how Walmart joined forces with the tech giant instead of offering its own deal.
However, this does not mean that the other players are out, as Oracle has also placed a fresh $20 million offer to ByteDance.
In other TikTok news today, Kevin Mayer-the platform’s newly appointed American CEO and the answer TikTok gave every time it was accused of being in cahoots with China, resigned today. This could be the last blow that seals the company’s fate in America.
