Microsoft Eyes TikTok US Deal, Trump Says Acquisition Talks Are Underway

Microsoft Corp MSFT is in talks to acquire ByteDance Ltd-owned TikTok’s U.S. arm, President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday night, according to Reuters.

Reuters cites Trump as saying the U.S. wants to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture in TikTok with zero involvement from China. The president was speaking to Republican lawmakers at his Doral golf club in Miami.

TikTok boasts 170 million U.S. users, accounting for ~4% of the U.S. digital ad market. Around 63% of teens aged 13 to 17 use TikTok versus Meta Platforms Inc META Instagram’s 59%, CNBC cites a 2023 Pew Research Center survey.

TikTok’s other bidders include AI startup Perplexity and Frank McCourt of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bloomberg reports.

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Microsoft and Oracle Corp ORCL were TikTok acquisition contenders in 2020 when Trump first forced ByteDance to either sell in the U.S. or face a ban, citing national security threat from its Chinese ownership.

Contrastingly, after taking charge on January 20, Trump postponed law enforcement banning TikTok by 75 days.

Last week, Trump said that he was in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok, and a decision was likely in 30 days, according to Reuters report.

Oracle co-founder and Chair Larry Ellison and Tesla Inc TSLA chief Elon Musk emerged as potential contenders for the TikTok deal, which could be TikTok’s key to a $1 trillion valuation.

Wedbush’s Dan Ives projected the sale to be worth $40 billion—$50 billion.

Price Action: MSFT stock is up 0.67% at $437.45 premarket at last check Tuesday.

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