Microsoft said it is planning to acquire TikTok in US operations after the Trump administration threatened to ban the Chinese-made app.
Sources according to Metro news, UK, revealed that Donald Trump gave ByteDance – the Chinese owners of TikTok – 45 days to orchestrate a deal with Microsoft.
US officials said TikTok under its Chinese parent company poses a national risk because of the personal data it handles.
However, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has personally spoken to President Trump about taking over the American arm of TikTok.
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Daily Times reports that a statement by the company, said ‘’Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.
‘‘Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020.
‘‘During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President.’’
It is still unclear how much Microsoft will pay for the US slice of TikTok but the company added that it ‘‘may invite other American investors to participate on a minority basis in this purchase.’’
Meanwhile, ByteDance’s founder Zhang Yiming sent out an all-staff internal letter in response to the potential sale.
ByteDance stated, ‘’ByteDance aspires to be a transformative global company, and we remain committed to our vision to “inspire creativity and enrich life,” iterating and improving, just like our products do,’ he wrote in the memo, obtained by Pandaily.
‘‘We do not yet know the exact details of what our end solution will be. Candidly, it is unlikely that the level of interest and speculation around TikTok will cease in the short term, and I recognize that this can be very distracting. In spite of these challenges, I hope to see our teams maintain positive morale and composure and focus on the long term, while remaining confident that we will make the best decisions for the company as circumstances evolve and provide our employees support through this difficult time.’’
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