Tiktok may be back in online and app stores, but its future in the United States is far from certain. President Donald Trump’s executive order delays the execution of the ban are just a temporary probation for the company.
While Bytedance once boycotted the idea of selling Tiktok’s U.S. business, that seems to have changed since Trump took office. A savage investor said earlier this year that it was concluded that a deal would allow Tiktok to remain “in everyone’s interest” in the United States. Chinese officials also advised them to be “open” to transactions. Wall Street Journal.
Many people and companies have some interest in Tiktok. Trump himself has said he hopes to see a “bidding war” for the app and that the U.S. government should own a stake in the company. However, the final deal may not be clear. These are quotes we know right now. On March 9, Trump said the administration “deals with four different groups” on the potential agreement, although he has no name.
Trump’s executive order gave the company 75 days to reach a deal, although he recently said he could “possibly” extend the deadline if a deal is not reached by April 5.
Oracle
NPR reported in January that Oracle is working with Trump administration officials to “save Tiktok’s plan, which involves attacking software company Oracle and a group of outside investors to effectively control the global operation of the application.” Under this arrangement, Bytedance “will retain a minority stake in the company”, but Oracle will oversee “the application’s algorithms, data collection and software updates.”
Tiktok has a partnership with Oracle under Trump Parr Larry Ellison. Cloud companies have hosted Tiktok’s U.S. user data, a key part of Tiktok’s original negotiations to continue operations in the U.S. under the plans of the Texas project. (These negotiations suddenly collapsed in 2022.)
Trump has also signed a deal with Oracle and Wal-Mart that in 2020, the president attempted to ban the app’s shares during his first term. That deal was never realized. Now, Trump’s position on Oracle is unclear. He told reporters that Oracle was not “many” with whom he had discussed Tiktok’s deal. (Ellison, especially, has been in the White House in recent days.
Microsoft
According to the same NPR story, Microsoft is also interested in playing a role in the future of Tiktok, which calls Microsoft one of the “other potential investors” in negotiations with Oracle. Trump seems to confirm this. When asked directly if Microsoft is interested in buying Tiktok, Trump replied: “I’ll say yes.”
Like Oracle, this is not the first time Microsoft has tried to acquire a social media company. Microsoft is talking about buying Tiktok in 2020 and taking over its U.S. business, but the deal suddenly collapsed. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later described it as “the weirdest thing I’ve ever done.”
Confused AI (maybe the US government)
Just before Tiktok was briefly offline, AI’s confusion threw its hat into the ring, offering Byedance a deal that would “create a new entity, combining confusion, Tiktok US and a new capital partner.”
Since then, confusion has reportedly adjusted its proposal. according to Associated PressAI companies have proposed a plan that calls for “the U.S. government will have up to half the new structure once it is offered in the IPO for at least $300 billion.” Under the plan, Bytedance will retain a minority stake in the company and “contribute to Tiktok’s U.S. business without a proprietary algorithm, thus contributing to what users see on the app.”
Project freedom
Another group of investors who proposed to buy Tiktok is a group known as Project Liberty. Under the leadership of investor Frank McCourt, which includes Shark Tank Fame. The group initially stepped forward before the ban took effect.
In March, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian announced that he was joining the Liberty project to acquire Tiktok’s assets. “I would love to see an application that users actually have their data and the creators really control,” he wrote in a short post on X. “Imagine opening the chain seamlessly…” The accompanying video cites the possibility of “decentralized distribution”, but DIS does not provide details.
O’Leary previously told CNBC that transactions involving government shares may not comply with the law. “That deal was 50/50, and I’d love to work with Trump, and all the other potential buyers would… But the problem with some of the ideas is that they are inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” he said. “I’d love to reach an agreement if the law stipulates it, but I don’t have the luxury of violating the order of Congress.” Later, he said the deal “changed by hour,” writing on X, “Now it’s clear that we’re going to have to dance between the original owners, the founders of the Barbarians themselves, and explain the laws upheld by Congress and the Supreme Court.”
Mrbeast
Youtuber Mrbeast (also known as Jimmy Donaldson) joked on X about buying Tiktok before the initial ban. He later said that “so many billionaires” made an offer to make, which he was going to truly achieve.
At least one group has confirmed his involvement, along with other “high net worth individuals” hoping to make a “all-cash offer.” The group, led by employer Jesse Tinsley, also reportedly includes Roblox CEO David Baszucki. according to Bloombergtogether they put together more than $20 billion in bids, although it is unclear how their offer will be considered seriously. Bloomberg It is also possible that Mrbeast attributes itself to other bids, noted.
What’s next?
So where is all this leaving tiktok? At present, the company is still in trouble. Yes, it can be available in the App Store and Google Play, but if the company fails to reach some kind of deal, the app’s service may be interrupted again. But for now, it seems that the government and Phaeyi are more willing to negotiate than in the past, although it is not clear what terms the two sides may actually agree to.
Updated, March 10, 2025, 6:55 PM ET: The story has been updated to add new statements from President Trump and add details about Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian joining the project Liberty Bid.
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