President Trump Set to Grant TikTok Another Extension
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ByteDance isn't enthused about the idea of selling TikTok and has been holding off on a deal. That's despite several U.S.-based tech companies having expressed interest in the short-form video app. This interest is warranted as vertical short-form videos have taken off in popularity. That's prompted the creation of TikTok rivals, such as Meta Platforms' (META) Reels and Alphabet's (GOOGL) YouTube Shorts.
This marks the third extension that TikTok has received since a court ruled a ban would go into effect if it wasn't divested to a U.S. company. President Trump has heavily favored the app due to the support he garnered on it during the 2024 presidential election.
Who Will Buy TikTok?
There's no shortage of suitors looking to purchase TikTok. That makes sense considering the massive size of the video platform, with roughly 1.8 billion monthly active users.
Parties interested in TikTok include:
Amazon (AMZN)
Oracle (ORCL)
OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely
Project Liberty
YouTuber MrBeast
AppLovin (APP)
Perplexity AI
Walmart (WMT)
Rumble (RUM)
Will TikTok Be Banned?
With this being the third extension that TikTok has received, the company really needs to find a buyer if it wants to continue operating in the U.S. Failure to do so could result in a ban of the app, as that would be required by the Supreme Court's ruling.
While President Trump may not want that to happen, he can only give TikTok so much leeway before the ban goes into effect. The President could also plan to use the app as a bargaining chip with China in the ongoing trade war. However, this might require additional input from the other branches of the government.
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