The deadline for transferring TikTok ownership from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to a non-Chinese company is April 5. The company initially received a 75-day extension from President Trump’s executive order in Jan, a campaign promise he ran on after amassing 15.2 million followers when he joined the app in June. The ban or divest extension is forcing the Chinese company ByteDance, with over 170 million users in the U.S., to sell its assets after a 352-65 congressional vote last year to ban the app.
According to the original law, if no deal is reached by midnight on April 5, TikTok’s nationwide ban will go into effect.
TikTok has already temporarily suffered the ramifications of being banned in the US; on Jan. 18 of this year, TikTok was temporarily under a “de jure” nationwide ban for about 12 hours. However, the day after, on Jan. 19, President Trump signed an executive order extending the enforcement of the ban for 75 days. Despite the company’s protests that banning the app would be a violation of the First Amendment, the Supreme Court maintained its stance that Bytedance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, must sell the app to a US company or otherwise be banned in the US.
President Trump says he is “very close” to brokering a deal to find a buyer for TikTok,
Potential Buyers:
Amazon: The e-commerce giant sent its proposal in a letter this week to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Zoop/Hbar: Zoop is a start-up run by Tim Stokely, the founder of OnlyFans. Hbar is a cryptocurrency foundation partnering with the start-up. Zoop co-founder RJ Phillips said he wants creators to benefit directly from the value they generate.
Andreessen Horowitz: A group of private equity investors led by Andreessen Horowitz and Blackstone is reportedly close to earning the White House’s confirmation for the purchase.
Mobile tech company AppLovin is also reportedly in negotiations.
