Oracle Reportedly Wins TikTok After Microsoft’s Bid Rejected

Oracle will reportedly take over TikTok’s business in the US after China’s ByteDance rejected Microsoft’s offer.

The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday that Oracle had been chosen as the winner in bidding for TikTok, and that an announcement would be made soon that Oracle will be TikTok’s “trusted tech partner” in the US. The deal would apparently fall short of an outright sale of the popular app.

That report came shortly after Microsoft said in a blog post that its bid for TikTok had been turned down. Neither Microsoft nor ByteDance offered an explanation for why the deal was rejected.

“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft,” Microsoft said. “We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas.” 

TikTok faces a Sept. 20 deadline to sell its US operations or face a ban by the Trump administration. The White House and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US still must approve the Oracle deal.