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Amazon submits bid for TikTok with US sale deadline approaching

Amazon submitted a bid to the White House to take ownership of the Chinese owned app TikTok ahead of its sale deadline Saturday. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg)
By Stephanie Lai, Kate Sullivan </p><p>and Spencer Soper Bloomberg

Amazon.com Inc. submitted a bid to the White House to purchase the social video app TikTok from its Chinese owners, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The company sent its proposal in a letter to Vice President JD Vance, who’s heading efforts to help facilitate a sale of the U.S. operations of the video service ahead of a deadline later this week, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the people said.

But the bid, reported earlier by the New York Times, is not being considered seriously by the administration, according to the person, who discussed the sale process on the condition of anonymity. The company declined to comment.

Even if Amazon isn’t serious about buying TikTok, expressing interest could compel other suitors to pay more, which squeezes more money out of a potential competitor. Being involved in negotiations could also give Amazon visibility into TikTok’s financial performance, including its TikTok Shop, a competitor to Amazon’s online retail business.

President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Vance and other top administration officials Wednesday afternoon to consider proposals for divesting TikTok’s U.S. operations from its Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. The administration is weighing other plans, including one that would include Oracle Corp. and Blackstone Inc. and potentially other investors in a joint venture, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Trump faces a Saturday deadline for ByteDance to find a buyer for TikTok’s U.S. operations or see the app banned in the country, though he has said he would be willing to extend the deadline as necessary. A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers passed the law, signed by former President Joe Biden, last year to address concerns that the Chinese government could collect sensitive data on U.S. citizens.

Trump has extended the deadline once from an initial date of Jan. 19. Even if he signs off on the proposal, it would still require approval from TikTok’s parent company and the Chinese government. It remains unclear whether ByteDance and the Chinese have been involved in the conversations.