Amazon Makes Last-Minute Move to Buy TikTok Before U.S. Ban Hits
With a U.S. ban on TikTok set to begin this Saturday, Amazon has stepped into the fray with a late offer to acquire the popular video-sharing app, according to a Trump administration official. The official, speaking anonymously due to lack of authorization to discuss the matter publicly, revealed that Amazon submitted its proposal in a letter addressed to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The development follows President Donald Trump’s decision on Inauguration Day to temporarily halt a Supreme Court-upheld law mandating the ban on national security grounds. That legislation requires ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest the platform to an approved buyer or cease operations in the U.S. While Trump has hinted at possibly extending the reprieve, he has also stressed his expectation that a sale will be finalized by the Saturday deadline.
Amazon has opted not to comment on the matter, and TikTok has yet to respond to inquiries. The revelation of Amazon’s bid coincides with a scheduled Wednesday meeting between Trump and top officials to address the approaching deadline for TikTok’s sale.
Though ByteDance’s intentions regarding a potential sale remain uncertain, several contenders have emerged in recent months. Software giant Oracle, which secured a 12.5% stake in TikTok Global in 2020 as its cloud technology provider, is among them, alongside investment firm Blackstone. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI proposed a merger in January that would integrate its operations with TikTok’s U.S. business. In a blog post last month, Perplexity argued it could uniquely overhaul TikTok’s algorithm without fostering a monopoly, promising to rebuild it using American-managed data centers to comply with domestic privacy standards.
Other suitors include a group led by billionaire Frank McCourt, which recently brought Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian on board as a strategic adviser. This consortium has reportedly offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for TikTok’s U.S. arm. Separately, Jesse Tinsley, founder of payroll company Employer.com, claims his investor group has tabled a bid exceeding $30 billion, while Wyoming entrepreneur Reid Rasner says he has put forward an offer of approximately $47.5 billion.
Concerns over TikTok’s ties to China have fueled the push for a ban, with the FBI and Federal Communications Commission cautioning that ByteDance could share user data like location, browsing habits, and biometric details with Beijing’s government. TikTok has consistently denied these allegations, asserting it has never complied with such requests and would refuse if asked. No concrete evidence of data-sharing has been presented by U.S. authorities.
Trump, who boasts millions of TikTok followers and credits the platform for boosting his appeal among younger voters, has had a complex relationship with the app. During his first term, he took a harder line, issuing executive orders to prohibit dealings with ByteDance and the owners of Chinese messaging app WeChat.