Amazon Reportedly Making Bid to Buy TikTok in the U.S.
Just ahead of the app’s April 5 deadline to sell to an American owner to avoid a ban.
Just as TikTok was about to face another ban in the United States on its April 5 sale deadline, Amazon has reportedly placed a last-minute bid to acquire the popular Chinese-owned video app, according to the New York Times.
“Various parties who have been involved in the talks do not appear to be taking Amazon’s bid seriously,” per three people familiar with the matter. The alleged bid arrived in the form of a letter sent to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the report added.
Neither Amazon nor TikTok has commented on the topic, though shares in Amazon climbed 1.3% immediately following the news, per Reuters.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with White House officials on Wednesday to discuss the future of TikTok. Those talks include a potential deal to pool several American investors, including Oracle and Blackstone, to steer around a formal sale, according to the New York Times‘ sources familiar with the matter.
Amazon is only the latest retailer to express a formal interest in purchasing the social media company. Microsoft and Walmart placed a bid on the company back in 2020, when ByteDance was initially pressured to sell TikTok to an American owner.
