Amazon joins list of TikTok bidders as US deadline looms
But the final decision must come from Trump
Amazon has made a last-minute bid to acquire TikTok as the clock winds down on a US government-imposed deadline.
Amazon’s offer, first reported by The New York Times, was sent in a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick earlier this week.
Despite the e-commerce giant's financial muscle, a source familiar with the negotiations indicated that Amazon's bid is not being taken seriously due to its late entry into the process.
The deadline for TikTok to secure an American buyer is set for Saturday 5th April, as mandated by an executive order from President Trump on his first day back in office.
The app's Chinese owner, ByteDance, must sell TikTok by Saturday or face a nationwide ban in the USA.
Trump was expected to discuss TikTok's future in a meeting this week with Vice President Vance, Commerce Secretary Lutnick and other senior administration officials.
While no immediate resolution emerged, a White House official stated that any final decision regarding TikTok's fate would come directly from the president.
The app's future in the US has been uncertain since last year, when then-President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation requiring ByteDance to divest from TikTok or risk a ban.
While ByteDance has publicly resisted selling, negotiations have continued behind closed doors.
The White House has been tight-lipped about potential buyers, though multiple high-profile names have emerged.
Investors expressing interest include Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian; billionaire and Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt; AI startup Perplexity AI; former Trump administration Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; and a consortium led by Tim Stokely, founder of OnlyFans.
The bidding landscape also reportedly includes private equity firm Blackstone, which is said to be exploring a collaboration with ByteDance's non-Chinese shareholders, led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, to inject fresh capital into a bid for TikTok's US business.
Amazon's entry into the fray has added a new dimension to the already complex deal-making process.
The company's interest in TikTok aligns with its long-standing aspiration to establish a robust social media presence, aimed at boosting sales and appealing to a younger demographic.
The company's previous endeavours in this space include the acquisition of live video platform Twitch in 2014 and book review site Goodreads in 2013, as well as the recent shuttering of its TikTok-like feature, Inspire.
Despite the rapidly approaching deadline, Trump has signalled a willingness to extend it if necessary.
"We have a lot of potential buyers," the president told reporters earlier this week.
"There's tremendous interest in TikTok. The decision is going to be my decision. TikTok is, it's very interesting, and a lot of people want to buy it."
Vice President Vance, however, has expressed reluctance for further delays. In a recent interview with NBC News, he acknowledged that while the broad framework of a deal might be established by the deadline, the fine print could take longer.
TikTok's US legal battle
TikTok has long been entangled in legal and political disputes in the US. Attempts to ban the app date back to Trump's first term, though those efforts were unsuccessful. However, in the final days of the Biden administration, the Supreme Court upheld the bipartisan bill that forced the app’s sale.
For a brief period, the app was shut down in the US just before Trump's inauguration in January, but it resumed operations once the new administration indicated it would reassess the ban.
Trump, who had once sought to prohibit TikTok, took a different approach during his 2024 campaign, even posting a viral video on the platform where he vowed to "save TikTok."