Amazon Makes Last-Minute Bid For TikTok – New York Times

Amazon has submitted a last-minute bid to acquire TikTok, which faces a U.S. ban if it is not sold by its Chinese owner, The New York Times reported.

Much of TikTok's U.S. data is already hosted on Oracle servers. I Photo: Phil Murphy Flickr

The bid was presented in a letter to officials involved in negotiations over TikTok’s sale, aimed at addressing U.S. national security concerns, The New York Times reported. However, Amazon declined to comment on the matter, Agence France-Presse (AFP) also noted.

President Donald Trump has downplayed the possibility of a TikTok ban, expressing confidence that a buyer will emerge before the Saturday deadline.

According to The New York Times, sources close to the discussions do not appear to be taking Amazon's bid seriously. Reports suggest that the most likely outcome would involve existing U.S. investors in ByteDance transferring their stakes into a newly independent global TikTok entity.

Additional U.S. investors, including Oracle and Blackstone, would be brought in to reduce the proportion of Chinese ownership. Much of TikTok's U.S. data is already hosted on Oracle servers, and Oracle chairman Larry Ellison is a longtime Trump ally, further complicating the negotiations.