Amazon Submits Late Bid to Acquire TikTok
E-commerce giant Amazon has made a last-minute bid to acquire TikTok, according to a report by The New York Times. Citing sources, the report states that Amazon has sent a letter proposing a full acquisition of the short-video app, addressed to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The news was also reported by Reuters.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to review TikTok's final sale proposal on Wednesday. Under a law passed in 2024, the app’s parent company, ByteDance, must transfer ownership of TikTok by January 19. If the company fails to sell to a non-Chinese buyer by April 5, TikTok faces a potential ban in the United States.
Neither TikTok nor ByteDance has commented on the matter, and Amazon has also remained silent. However, The New York Times reports that parties involved in the negotiations are not taking Amazon’s bid seriously. Following the news of the proposal, Amazon’s stock price rose by 1.3%.
The U.S. administration has expressed concerns that ByteDance’s control over TikTok could allow the Chinese government to exert influence and collect data on American users. After securing a second term, President Trump signed an executive order extending TikTok’s sale deadline by 75 days.
