Exclusive | TikTok: ByteDance to step up legal, PR fight in Trump’s war against Chinese-owned app, sources say
- The Chinese owners of TikTok plan to step up opposition to a ban on US operations, as criticism grows at home the firm is kowtowing to American demands
- Negotiations with Microsoft and social media giant Twitter for a forced sale are unlikely to succeed, says a source briefed on the matter
Meanwhile, ongoing talks with potential suitor Microsoft, as well as reported preliminary talks with social media giant Twitter, are unlikely to end in a deal, said one of the people who has been briefed on the talks but who declined to be named as the information is not public.
The person said the probability of Microsoft buying TikTok is “not higher than 20 per cent” since the initial price offered by the US software giant was akin to “robbing the owner when his house is on fire”.
And the chances of Twitter buying TikTok were said to be even smaller, according to the person, as the US social media platform “just doesn’t have enough money.”
ByteDance declined to comment when approached about the talks with Microsoft and Twitter.
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Trump gives Microsoft 45 days to buy TikTok from China’s Bytedance
Twitter’s total market capitalisation is about US$30 billion while the valuation of TikTok before Trump announced the ban was around US$50 billion. CNBC reported last week that Microsoft is trying to buy TikTok in the US, Canada and Australia for a price of between US$10 and US$30 billion.