Ever since the 45th president of the United States signed an executive order which would ban TikTok‘s parent company ByteDance from operating within the country, the internet has been abuzz with speculation on the future of the social media app. Walmart released a statement to CNBC today that it intends to partner up with Microsoft in a joint bid to acquire the app.
Unless Beijing-based ByteDance sells Tiktok and all its operations in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to a non-Chinese company, the app will disappear from US markets on September 21st. According to Microsoft’s press release, in which it expressed interest in purchasing TikTok, it is hoping to close the deal by September 15th. Walmart says it’s going to be a joint effort.
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The official reason behind the US president’s executive order against Chinese-owned social media is the protection of national security, which is the same reason India used when it issued a similar ban, but there are those saying that the POTUS may have targeted TikTok because of a viral campaign which originated on the platform. 1 million TikTok users and others reserved tickets for his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma with no intention to attend.
Walmart and Microsoft have stiff competition, with reported potential bidders including Twitter, Amazon, and Oracle. Google’s parent company Alphabet expressed interest early on, but according to Bloomberg that effort “fizzled out.” The deal is likely to land in the $20 to $30 billion dollar range, and the two companies stand to gain a lot from the globally popular app if they team up.
The retail giant does not have the infrastructure available to properly court ByteDance alone, and it specifically needs to have cloud resources on hand to do so. Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, which Walmart has used since 2018, may be the card it needs to extend its influence into the e-commerce market that TikTok has cultivated. In the statement today, Walmart indicated that TikTok would be an “important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses.”
ByteDance has done what it can to fight back against the executive order, including filing a suit against the United States Government, saying the order was made before the company could take any action to address the president’s concerns. The legal waters are very muddy around the issue, especially after the president implied that whatever deal ends up being made, the United States substantial portion.
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Source: CNBC
