With TikTok facing a potential ban in the US, it was recently confirmed that Microsoft is interested in acquiring the company. This would effectively make TikTok an American company without any ties to China as its US operations would no longer be controlled by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company in China.
However, it seems that Microsoft could actually be planning a much larger acquisition than we previously thought. This is according to a report from the Financial Times (paywall) in which their sources have hinted that Microsoft might not only be interested in TikTok’s US operations, but possibly the company’s global operations as well.
This means that if true, Microsoft would control TikTok in its entirety around the world, not just in the US, and also save for China’s version of TikTok Douyin. The report also goes on to claim that Microsoft will be giving ByteDance one year to separate itself from TikTok and address any data security issues there may be.
However, the publication’s sources have told them that the one year deadline might be too short, and that it might actually take as long as eight years to complete a transaction of this magnitude. In the meantime, TikTok has until the 15th of September to find itself a buyer or risk getting banned.
Source: Ubergizmo
