TikTok has less than 75 days before facing another ban after President Donald Trump signed an executive order granting the viral video app an extension to find a buyer.
With the clock ticking, the Trump administration is facilitating talks between potential U.S. buyers and TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance.
According to a new report from NPR, the current deal in the works features the business-oriented software company Oracle taking over and overseeing “the app’s algorithm, data collection and software updates.” Other U.S. investors, such as Microsoft, are also involved in the acquisition process, according to a source close to the discussions.
However, ByteDance wouldn’t be completely out of the picture. The current deal in the works would allow the company to hold a minority stake in TikTok.
President Trump has since denied the report, saying that “numerous people are talking to me, very substantial people, about buying it” and that he will make his decision within the next 30 days.
Obviously, things could change at this point, but Trump has previously shared his preferences for an Oracle takeover of TikTok.
Time is ticking for TikTok
The latest TikTok deal talks come just one week after TikTok went dark after being removed from Apple and Google’s mobile app stores. The removal came in response to a law, passed by a bipartisan Congress and signed into law by then-president Joe Biden, requiring that TikTok cut ties with its China-based owner over national security concerns pertaining to China’s government.
Trump, who previously spearheaded the original plan for the U.S. government to ban TikTok, had a sudden change of heart this time around. Citing his own usage of the platform in his successful 2024 election campaign, Trump vowed to make a deal to “save” TikTok. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump signed an executive order granting TikTok a 75-day extension.
With a nod to Trump, TikTok has since restored its service for U.S. users. However, Apple and Google have yet to restore the app on app stores due to potential fines they can receive as a result of the TikTok ban law. TikTok cannot push updates or fixes for the app to U.S. users as a result of the removal. Users who want to reinstall the TikTok app or install it on a new device are currently unable to do so.
Oracle’s TikTok?
Oracle is no stranger to these TikTok takeover talks.
The software company was originally floated as the lead buyer for TikTok during Trump’s last presidency when he required that ByteDance sell off the app. While an acquisition deal never went through, a result of the talks saw Oracle partnering with TikTok to provide cloud services for its U.S. data.
In fact, TikTok has become such a major customer of Oracle’s, that the latter said a ban on the former would hurt its business. Other U.S. investors are also involved in the TikTok takeover talks.
Microsoft, which was one of the leading interested parties alongside Oracle last time around, is said to be one of those companies. One major party that was involved in talks last time around that is missing from this round of discussions is Walmart. The big box retailer is said to be sitting out of this one due to TikTok’s estimated asking price.
While these talks can change, it does appear that Oracle is at least President Trump’s preference for taking over TikTok. A few days ago, Trump was asked by a reporter if he was open to Elon Musk buying TikTok.
While Trump said he was fine with that arrangement, he offered up his own suggestion for a buyer.
“I’d like Larry to buy it, too,” Trump said, referring to Oracle’s billionaire founder Larry Ellison.
It looks like we’ll know more about TikTok’s future sometime in the next 30 days.
