Microsoft’s bid for the U.S. business of TikTok, which includes Walmart as a minority investor, has been rejected.
In a brief statement on its corporate website, Microsoft announced that TikTok parent ByteDance will not be selling the Chinese social media network’s U.S. operations to the technology giant. In late August, Walmart confirmed it was a partner in Microsoft’s bid to purchase the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand business of the platform, which lets users post, view and share short-form videos.
Media sources differ on whether another high-profile suitor for TikTok’s U.S. operations, Oracle, has had its offer accepted. According to NBC News, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has confirmed that the White House received a proposal for Oracle to buy the U.S. business of TikTok. The Trump administration has threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S. if its American operations are not purchased by a U.S. company by Sept. 15., citing concerns over the app’s potential connections to the Chinese Communist Party.
However, China Global Television Network (CGTN), an international news service owned and operated by a state-controlled Chinese media company, is reporting ByteDance will not sell TikTok to either Oracle or Microsoft, nor will it release TikTok’s source code to any U.S. buyer. ByteDance and Oracle have not publicly commented.
Walmart had been eyeing TikTok’s integrated e-commerce and advertising capabilities. The platform is very popular with Gen Z consumers in the U.S.
“We believe a potential relationship with TikTok U.S. in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses,” Walmart said in an August statement.
The purchase price for TikTok’s U.S. business has been estimated at between $20 billion and $30 billion. Any acquisition would need approval from both the U.S. and Chinese governments.
