Verizon, Amazon, Microsoft Could Buy TikTok Amid Ban In US: Experts
The clock is ticking for TikTok's parent company ByteDance to either sell the app or face a ban in the U.S., and experts have begun speculating which tech giants may offer bids.
Analysts, investors and other experts told Adweek that Microsoft, Verizon, AT&T, Oracle and Amazon are among the most likely to buy TikTok, which is valued by some experts to be worth $100 billion.
President Joe Biden signed a bill last week that gives Beijing-based ByteDance potentially up to a year to sell TikTok. Failure to do so would see the removal of TikTok from app stores and internet hosting services.
While TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has since vowed to fight the legislation, reports have surfaced that ByteDance may be considering selling the popular platform -- minus the algorithm that recommends videos to users.
According to Adweek, venture capital firm S4S Ventures' Sanja Partalo and marketing consulting firm CvE's Javier Rodriguez Horta suggested Microsoft could try to acquire TikTok again following its failed bid in 2020.
"They have an advertising business, a gaming business, both having synergies with TikTok's business model and user base," Partalo explained.
Azerion vice president of marketing and investor relations Andrew Buckman, meanwhile, told Adweek that telecommunications giants Verizon and AT&T could enter the race in order to tap into TikTok's massive Gen Z demographic.
But he acknowledged that these companies may struggle with rebuilding TikTok's content recommendation algorithm.
On the other hand, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told the outlet he believes Oracle is a "logical fit" for TikTok considering it is the primary cloud vendor for the platform's U.S. business and had previously discussed acquiring a stake in the app.
But for 10PM Curfew co-founder Darren Lopes, Amazon makes the most sense when it comes to TikTok's potential buyer.
The expert noted that Amazon has the money and the server infrastructure but does not yet have a social media platform.
According to Lopes, Amazon may also want to swallow up its competitor, TikTok Shop, which is shaping up to be a major player in the ecommerce space.
"TikTok has been a massive driver with their Amazon Finds videos, but now with TikTok Shop, it has driven away revenue and traffic from Amazon," Lopes told Adweek.
But a sale remains up in the air at this point.
Last week, just days after Biden signed the TikTok legislation, ByteDance released a statement via its news app Toutiao saying that it had no plans to sell the popular platform, according to CNN.
"Foreign media reports that ByteDance is exploring the sale of TikTok are untrue," the company insisted.
It was responding to a report by the Information, which cited unnamed insiders as claiming that Bytedance was considering selling TikTok's U.S. business without its algorithm.
Prior to this, TikTok's CEO posted a video on the platform telling users, "We aren't going anywhere."
Chew said TikTok is "confident" and plans to challenge the legislation, adding: "The facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail."
