April 03, 2025
Amazon has submitted a bid to acquire TikTok, according to a Trump administration official on Wednesday, just days before a US ban on the platform is set to take effect on Saturday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that Amazon’s offer was sent via letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The New York Times first reported the bid.
President Donald Trump had previously granted TikTok a temporary reprieve on Inauguration Day, overriding a law that was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court, which deemed the ban necessary for national security.
Under the law, TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, must sell the platform to an approved buyer or face a complete shutdown in the US. While Trump has suggested he might further delay the ban, he also emphasized that a deal is expected by Saturday.
Amazon declined to comment on the bid, and TikTok has yet to respond to requests for a statement.
The news of Amazon’s offer emerged as Trump was set to meet with senior officials on Wednesday to discuss the looming deadline for a TikTok sale.
Potential Bidders Emerge as TikTok’s Future Remains Uncertain
While it remains unclear whether ByteDance intends to sell TikTok, several potential buyers have expressed interest in recent months. Among them are software giant Oracle and investment firm Blackstone. Oracle, which secured a 12.5% stake in TikTok Global in 2020 as its cloud technology provider, is considered a key contender.
In January, artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI proposed a merger with TikTok’s US operations. Last month, the company detailed its vision for rebuilding TikTok, emphasizing its ability to re-engineer the algorithm without creating a monopoly. In a blog post, Perplexity stated that any acquisition by an investor consortium could allow ByteDance to retain control of the algorithm, while a competitor’s acquisition might lead to a short-form video monopoly.
Perplexity further assured that if it acquired TikTok, it would reconstruct the platform’s algorithm and maintain its infrastructure in American data centers under US oversight to align with domestic privacy standards.
Other Potential Bidders
A consortium led by billionaire Frank McCourt has also entered the race, recently bringing Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian on board as a strategic adviser. The group has reportedly offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikTok’s US division.
Meanwhile, Jesse Tinsley, founder of payroll firm Employer.com, has assembled another consortium and is reportedly offering over $30 billion. Wyoming small business owner Reid Rasner has made an even larger bid of approximately $47.5 billion, further intensifying the competition for TikTok’s US operations.
Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have raised concerns that ByteDance could potentially share user data—including browsing history, location, and biometric identifiers—with the Chinese government. However, TikTok has repeatedly denied these allegations, stating that it has never shared user data and would not comply with such requests. To date, the US government has not presented concrete evidence supporting these claims.
Despite past skepticism, former President Donald Trump has embraced TikTok, crediting the platform for boosting his popularity among young voters. During his first term, however, he took a stricter stance, issuing executive orders aimed at banning transactions with ByteDance and the Chinese messaging app WeChat.
(Source)