It’s never easy to be the owner of TikTok. ByteDance, the company that owns the social media platform, has always had to navigate the muddy waters of being banned from many jurisdictions. So its prospective ban in the US isn’t exactly new territory for the social media giant.
There is one new dimension, though. While most bans are straightforward and simple, this one is far from it. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) mandates that the Chinese social media giant bid adieu to the American market one way or the other. But Trump has other plans, and it seems like it’s going to get more complicated with time.
TikTok faces an uphill battle for survival in the US
Trump 2.0 has been above anything about deal-making. And Donald Trump wants nothing to come in the way of his perceived reputation for being able to strike a deal between (or even with his own) arch-rivals.
The TikTok situation presents one more front for the POTUS to give an account of his skills. As the deadline for TikTok’s suspension nears, he is finally going into overdrive mode to push the deal over the line.
Congress’s law that mandated either the ban of the app or forcing its parent company, ByteDance, to part with the majority stake in the app has put the Chinese company in a spot of bother.
It faces two possibilities – either let TikTok’s operations in the US come to a halt or part with its stake in it. And neither choice is proving to be an easy one at the time.
Amazon enters the race for TikTok at the last moment
As the April 5 deadline for divesting the majority stake in the app nears, it has become clear that it won’t be an easy deal to strike. Realizing this reality, President Trump has taken things into his own hands.
Come 2nd April, Donald Trump, understanding the gravity of the situation, convened a meeting with his top aides, notably Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to ponder who could potentially bankroll this investment.
While an Oracle-led consortium has led the way, Kevin O’Leary, better known for being a part of Shark Tank, also threw his name in the hat (while ruling it out simultaneously). For him, the deal was fraught with legal risks. But it looks like there is a new party in the fray.
According to the NY Times, Amazon was the latest party to submit a bid for TikTok. The offer was made via an offer letter addressed to VP JD Vance and Howard Lutnick, according to people in the know. If there is any credence to the news, this could indeed be an interesting development, though it looks like Amazon’s offer might not be a serious contender.
No matter who emerges as the leader, there can be no doubt about the fact that it will be interesting to see what happens in the end.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
