TikTok may be back online and in app stores, but its future in the United States is still far from certain. President Donald Trump’s executive order delaying enforcement of the ban was only a temporary reprieve for the company.
While ByteDance was once resistant to the idea of selling TikTok’s US business, that seems to have changed since Trump took office. A ByteDance investor said early this year that striking a deal to keep TikTok in the US is “in everybody’s interest.” Officials in China also suggested they were “open” to a deal, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A number of people and companies have signaled some interest in TikTok. Trump himself has said he would like to see a “bidding war” for the app and that the US government should own a stake in the company. What an eventual deal may look like, though, is unclear. These are the offers we currently know about. On March 9, Trump said the administration was “dealing with four different groups” on a potential deal, though he didn’t name names.
Trump’s executive order gave the company 75 days to come to an agreement, though he has recently said he would “probably” extend the deadline if a deal isn’t reached by April 5.
Oracle
NPR reported in January that Oracle was working with Trump Administration officials on “a plan to save TikTok that involves tapping software company Oracle and a group of outside investors to effectively take control of the app’s global operations.” Under this arrangement, ByteDance “would retain a minority stake in the company” but Oracle would oversee “the app’s algorithm, data collection and software updates.”
Headed up by Trump pal Larry Ellison, TikTok has an existing partnership with Oracle. The cloud company already hosts TikTok’s US user data and the company was a key part of TikTok’s original negotiations to remain operational in the US under a plan called Project Texas. (Those negotiations abruptly fell apart in 2022.)
Trump also previously signed off on a deal for Oracle and Walmart to acquire a 20 percent stake in TikTok in 2020, when the president tried to ban the app during his first term. That deal never materialized. Now, Trump’s position on Oracle is unclear. He told reporters that Oracle was not among the “many people” with whom he had discussed a deal for TikTok. (Ellison, notably, has been at the White House in recent days. He joined Trump and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for the announcement of the Stargate Project.)
Microsoft
Microsoft is reportedly also interested in playing a role in TikTok’s future, according to the same NPR story, which said Microsoft was among the “other potential investors” involved in the talks with Oracle. Trump seemingly confirmed this. When asked directly if Microsoft was interested in buying TikTok, Trump responded “I would say yes.”
As with Oracle, this isn’t the first time Microsoft has attempted to acquire the social media company. Microsoft was in talks to buy TikTok in 2020 and take over its US business, but the deal abruptly fell apart. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later described it as “the strangest thing I’ve ever sort of worked on.”
Perplexity AI (and maybe the US government)
Just before TikTok briefly went offline, Perplexity AI threw its hat into the ring, offering a deal to ByteDance that “would “create a new entity combining Perplexity, TikTok US and New Capital Partners.”
Since then, Perplexity has reportedly tweaked its proposal. According to the Associated Press, the AI company floated a plan that calls for the “U.S. government to own up to half of that new structure once it makes an initial public offering of at least $300 billion.” Under this plan, ByteDance would keep a minority stake in the company and “would contribute TikTok’s U.S. business without the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app.”
Project Liberty
Another set of investors that’s proposed a bid to buy TikTok is a group known as Project Liberty. Led by investor Frank McCourt, it includes Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame. The group initially came forward before the ban took effect.
In March, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian announced that he was joining the Project Liberty bid to acquire TikTok’s assets. “I’d love to see an app where users actually own their data and where creators have real control,” he wrote in a short post on X that hinted at a potential tie-in with… the blockchain. “Imagine bringing all those users seamlessly onchain…” An accompanying video referenced the possibility of “decentralized distribution,” but disn’t offer details.
O’Leary previously told CNBC that deals involving a government stake may not comply with the law. “That 50/50 deal, I would love to work with Trump on, so would every other potential buyer … But the problem with some of these ideas is they are inconsistent with the ruling of the Supreme Court,” he said. “I would love to do a deal, if the law provided for it, but I don’t have the luxury of breaching the order of Congress.” Later, he said that the deal “changes by the hour,” writing on X that “it’s clear to me now that we’re going to have to do a dance between the original owners, the founders of ByteDance itself, and interpreting the law of what Congress and Supreme Court has upheld.”
MrBeast
YouTuber MrBeast, also known as Jimmy Donaldson, joked on X about buying TikTok ahead of the initial ban. He later said that “so many billionaires” had reached out to him about making an offer that he was going to try to actually pull it off.
Okay fine, I’ll buy Tik Tok so it doesn’t get banned
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) January 14, 2025
At least one group has already confirmed his involvement, along with other “high-net-worth individuals” looking to make an “all-cash offer.” That group, led by employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley also reportedly includes Roblox CEO David Baszucki. According to Bloomberg, together they have put together “significantly” more than $20 billion for a bid, though it’s not clear how seriously their offer is being considered. Bloomberg noted that there’s also a possibility that MrBeast may attach himself to other bids.
What’s next?
So where does all this leave TikTok? For now, the company is still in limbo. Yes, it’s available in the App Store and Google Play, but the app’s service could be interrupted again if the company is unable to reach some kind of a deal. For now, though, it seems both the government and ByteDance are much more willing to negotiate than they have been in the past, though it’s not at all clear what terms both sides may actually agree on.
Update, March 10, 2025, 6:55PM ET: This story has been updated to add new statements from President Trump, as well as to add details about Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian joining the Project Liberty bid.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/what-will-happen-to-tiktok-a-look-at-the-potential-buyers-000110723.html?src=rss
