Josh Hendrickson
Last month, Microsoft announced its intentions to buy TikTok from parent company ByteDance. That set off a series of negotiations and talks that have now led to a decision—Oracle will probably buy TikTok. Nope, that wasn’t a typo.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that Oracle will make the announcement soon according to its insider sources. Microsoft bowed out of the negotiations to buy TikTok only last night, and ByteDance accepting a competing offer from Oracle seems to answer why.
But unlike Microsoft’s intentions, WSJ says this isn’t a full buyout. Instead, the terms will list Oracle as a “trust tech partner.” We’ll need to see a full announcement to understand more of what that means.
President Trump recently threatened to ban TikTok from the U.S., citing national security concerns. He held off while Microsoft entered talks to buy the company, under the distinct promise that a sale would include data and algorithms, and bring at least the U.S. scope of TikTok to American shores. It’s unclear if Oracle’s offer satisfies those requirements.
Even when Oracle does make the announcement, the purchase won’t happen immediately. Regulators on the U.S. and China side will take a look and need to approve any deal, “trusted tech partner” or otherwise.
