With the deadline for TikTok to sell or face a ban (again) looming, a new potential buyer has emerged. Amazon has thrown its hat in the ring to take over the popular and addictive video platform, according to a report from the New York Times, offering up a last-minute bid that is likely tied to the retail giant’s desire to milk the lucrative TikTok Shop for every penny it can.
Amazon reportedly delivered its bid to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, two people with the distinction of seeming like incredibly bad hangs among the stiff competition presented by the nightmare blunt rotation that is the Trump cabinet. Apparently, per the Times, no one in the White House considers Amazon’s bid to be a serious one, so don’t expect TikTok to be a Bezos brand any time soon.
So Amazon’s pitch for its TikTok takeover now sits on the pile of bids that have emerged for the platform, none of which seem to have a whole lot of momentum despite the fact that TikTok is set to once again be banned on Saturday, April 5, if no deal is in place. That will mark 75 days from the point that Trump offered an extension on the deadline for Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok and hand it over to an American company—though word is that Trump is considering offering another extension.
Trump and his team are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to assess the landscape of offers, but the terrain has changed considerably from how it was in January. Back then, Trump had just taken office and was riding on pretty solid approval ratings (well, solid for him, at least). Extending TikTok’s window (and getting the app to give him a very public “thank you”) gave him a boost with young people. There was at least a semblance of goodwill, and Big Tech was in full suck-up mode, willing to go to significant lengths to curry favor with the President.
Now, as the stock market “corrects” and Trump’s extremely unpopular tariffs go into effect, his administration is looking for a win. Saving TikTok now seems imperative for Trump to hold onto whatever positive sentiment he can find, lest he face an embarrassing loss. The President has floated the idea of offering tariff relief to China in exchange for finalizing a TikTok sale, but he doesn’t seem to have much support even in his own party for that, per Politico. Meanwhile, China has barely budged on its position that it has no interest in divesting and is even willing to just accept the ban instead of selling.
With leverage slipping away, Trump is reportedly even considering allowing ByteDance to retain ownership over the TikTok algorithm, according to the Washington Post—a move that would keep arguably the most valuable part of the company in the hands of the Chinese firm. In that scenario, an American company would operate the TikTok platform while leasing the algorithm from ByteDance.
Frankly, at this point, it seems like just about everything is on the table for Trump as he scrambles to find a way to maintain his position as TikTok savior. So with the clock ticking (and tocking) as the Saturday deadline rapidly approaches, here is a look at who is still in the game to potentially take over TikTok, should Trump and company actually get a deal done before the deadline.
Oracle
Arguably the name that has been most commonly tied with a TikTok takeover, enterprise software firm Oracle would probably be the betting favorite to buy the platform. It’s been tied to TikTok since 2020 when it agreed to enter into a partnership with ByteDance to handle the data of US-based users. Politico reported that the company was “accelerating talks” to finalize a deal last month, but Oracle’s arrangement would leave the algorithm in the hands of the Chinese firm, which remains a non-starter for some in Trump’s circle.
“Mr. Wonderful” and Company
Kevin O’Leary—best known as Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank and the most obnoxious guest on any given CNBC show—and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt have perhaps the most publicized plan to take over TikTok. The duo has put together a group of financial backers who have committed as much as $20 billion to the effort. They’ve also taken to calling themselves the “People’s Bid for TikTok” which, sure. Their plan is apparently to rebuild TikTok in a way that would collect less user data, and they are not interested in the existing algorithm. The group is also apparently very open to other owners joining its bid.
MrBeast
A considerable dark horse in the TikTok bidding process is Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast. The YouTuber, who may have successfully developed the most vapid personality in all of human history, apparently considered joining the People’s Bid group before deciding to partner with Employer.com Founder Jesse Tinsley for his own offer. Beast and Friends, which includes Roblox CEO David Baszucki, claims to have significantly more than $20 billion to play with, but their pitch is pretty much just “TikTok but on American servers.” Not exactly inspiring stuff, but MrBeast isn’t one to reinvent the wheel.
Perplexity
Maybe the most creative pitch on the table for TikTok comes from the AI-powered search engine Perplexity. Last month, the company made an offer to merge with TikTok. The move would allow TikTok’s investors to retain their equity stakes in the company and would significantly expand the amount of data and information that Perplexity has at its fingertips for its models. The deal would require bringing in new American-based financial backers and would probably be the most complicated to complete.
Elon Musk
File this one as extremely unlikely, but Elon Musk’s name has been floated as one potential option for purchasing TikTok. He’s refuted it, saying that he has no interest in buying the platform and has not made a formal bid. Allegedly, though, Musk is a preferred choice among Chinese officials. Obviously, he would have an inside track on a deal, given his proximity to the White House, but god could you imagine how insufferable the app would become under his ownership? It’s bad enough that every third post on X is from him thanks to his alleged algorithm rigging. Now imagine that but in video form. Yeesh, pass.
Blackstone
If the Trump administration opts for a deal that doesn’t fully get China to divest of TikTok, Blackstone might be the play. Late last month, the private equity firm offered to take a small stake in the company as a way to reduce Chinese ownership. It’d likely be joined by other American investors to push China into a minority stake. It’d be the most boring option, which probably makes it more likely to happen.
Microsoft
Another big player capable of making a full takeover bid if it wants, Microsoft looms large in the TikTok sweepstakes. It has wanted to get on the social media game for quite a while and was involved in an attempted deal to buy the company back in 2020 that very quickly collapsed. Microsoft hasn’t made much noise regarding its interest in the platform since then, but Trump threw the company’s name out back in January as a potential buyer.
Amazon
As mentioned earlier, Amazon made a last-minute bid on TikTok. On paper, it’s a partnership that makes a lot of sense. Amazon could migrate TikTok to American servers via AWS, and it’d love to get its hands on all the cash that is flowing into the TikTok Shop as retail has turned into a major profit center for TikTok. But word is the company’s bid is not considered serious. It’s probably more of an opportunistic attempt to sneak into the mix.
Tim Stokely
OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely reportedly submitted a bid at the last minute to take over TikTok. Stokely is partnering with Hbar Foundation, which manages the treasury for the Hedera cryptocurrency network. According to Reuters, he deal would involve Stokely’s company Zoop, a publishing platform for creators to connect with audiences. They apparently have some big backers behind them and have plans to turn TikTok into a more creator-friendly platform. That sounds great, but a partnership between Zoop, Hbar, and Hedera sounds like a Silicon Valley bit. They all sound made up.
