With a deadline for the TikTok ban days away, President Donald Trump was reportedly briefed on a framework to bring in new U.S. investors to keep the popular short-video app running. Tech giant Amazon also has reportedly made a late push for the social media app.
The White House was close to approving a plan that would allow a group of investors to buy a stake in TikTok's U.S. operations, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. Under the arrangement, a list of investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Blackstone, Silver Lake and other large private capital firms would own roughly half of TikTok's U.S. business, the report said. The Information reported Wednesday afternoon that Trump planned to announce a plan called "TikTok America" that involved the investor group.
Oracle, meanwhile, would secure TikTok's U.S. user data, according to the Financial Times. TikTok's China-based owner ByteDance would retain a stake at just below 20% of the business.
The deal would require ByteDance's approval, and likely an approval from the Chinese government. A "point of contention" remains over who would control the video-recommendation algorithm developed by TikTok. The Chinese government wants the algorithm to remain under ByteDance with the new TikTok U.S. owner licensing the technology, according to the Financial Times.
TikTok is available for American users under a temporary reprieve from a 2024 law that bans the short-video app unless ByteDance divests ownership. Trump delayed enforcement of the ban for 75 days on his first day in office, Jan. 20, allowing TikTok to restart operations for its more than 170 million U.S. users after a brief shutdown.
The deal is still under review and plans could change. The deal could also require "months of further diligence," according to the report.
TikTok Ban: Amazon, AppLovin Last-Minute Bids
There were a couple surprise bids ahead of the April 5 deadline.
Amazon launched a last-minute offer through a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to the New York Times. However, the parties involved in TikTok's negotiations "do not appear to be taking Amazon's bid seriously," the report said, citing unnamed sources.
An Amazon purchase of TikTok would "make strategic sense" given Amazon's growing advertising business and the ties between social media and online shopping, Morgan Stanley analysts argued late last year. Amazon has an existing advertising partnership with TikTok. The deal, reached last year, allows TikTok users to buy some Amazon products without leaving the app. Amazon has a similar arrangement with Facebook parent Meta Platforms.
A likely hurdle for Amazon is that the company is already under antitrust scrutiny. A deal that includes TikTok's video-recommendation algorithm would also likely require approval from the Chinese government.
Mobile advertising technology company AppLovin, meanwhile, also bid for TikTok and approached casino magnate Steve Wynn about backing its offer, according to a Wednesday Wall Street Journal report.
However, the bid with new U.S. investors and Oracle handing user data is seen as the front-runner, according to the Financial Times.
Oracle, Amazon and AppLovin each closed higher on Wednesday following the reports. But the stocks were falling Thursday as U.S. markets were hit by reaction to Trump's tariff plan. Oracle stock is down 3% at 141.44 in recent premarket trading on the stock market today. Amazon is down 6% at 184.40 in recent action. AppLovin is down 8.6% at 265.44.
