financetom
Business
financetom
/
Business
/
TikTok bidders pile up as deadline looms with Amazon, OnlyFans founder in mix
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
TikTok bidders pile up as deadline looms with Amazon, OnlyFans founder in mix
Apr 2, 2025 11:55 AM

(Reuters) -As the weekend deadline for TikTok to find a buyer approaches, bidders for the short-video social media site are piling up.

Amazon ( AMZN ) and, separately, a consortium led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely are the latest to throw their hats into the ring for TikTok. The site faces an April 5 deadline to reach a deal to find a non-Chinese buyer under threat of being banned from the United States.

U.S. officials have raised security concerns over the app's ties to China, which TikTok and owner ByteDance have denied. Trump administration officials are meeting on Wednesday to discuss the various options for TikTok.

Startup Zoop, which is run by Stokely, founder of adult content social media site OnlyFans, has partnered with a cryptocurrency foundation to submit a late-stage plan to bid for TikTok, the two told Reuters Wednesday.

A U.S. administration official confirmed Amazon ( AMZN ) had sent a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Amazon ( AMZN ) declined to comment, while TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shares of Amazon ( AMZN ) rose about 2% following news of the last-minute TikTok bid.

Amazon ( AMZN ) has long harbored ambitions for an in-house social media network that could help it sell more goods and appeal to a younger audience. It bought live video site Twitch in 2014 for nearly $1 billion and book review site Goodreads in 2013 as part of its efforts to build a viable social network.

Amazon ( AMZN ) also developed and tested a TikTok-like short-form video and photo feed called Inspire that it shuttered earlier this year.

Trump said last month his administration was in touch with four different groups about the sale of the platform, without identifying them.

Private equity firm Blackstone is discussing joining ByteDance's non-Chinese shareholders, led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, in contributing fresh capital to bid for TikTok's U.S. business, Reuters reported last week.

U.S. venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is also in talks to add outside funding to buy out TikTok's Chinese investors, as part of a bid led by Oracle and other American investors to carve it out of ByteDance, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

White House-led talks entail plans to spin off a U.S. entity for TikTok and dilute Chinese ownership in the new business to below a 20% threshold required by U.S. law, Reuters reported last month.

The New York Times first reported Amazon's ( AMZN ) involvement on Wednesday. Various parties who have been involved in the talks do not appear to be taking Amazon's ( AMZN ) bid seriously, the Times reported.

The future of the app used by nearly half of all Americans has been up in the air since a 2024 law, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, required ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19.

Washington officials have said TikTok's ownership by ByteDance makes it beholden to the Chinese government, and Beijing could use the app to conduct influence operations against the United States and collect data on Americans.

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Cathie Wood's ARK Invest scoops up nearly 10,000 Reddit shares in debut
Cathie Wood's ARK Invest scoops up nearly 10,000 Reddit shares in debut
Mar 22, 2024
(Reuters) - Popular investor Cathie Wood's ARK Invest bought nearly 10,000 shares of Reddit ( RDDT ) in the social media platform's strong market debut on Thursday, an email from the asset manager showed. A total of 9,982 shares of the loss-making company was added to ARK Next Generation Internet ETF ( ARKW ) and ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (...
Japan's union group Rengo announces biggest wage hikes on record
Japan's union group Rengo announces biggest wage hikes on record
Mar 22, 2024
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese firms have agreed to raise pay by 5.25% this year, the biggest rise under comparable data since 2013, the country's largest union group Rengo confirmed on Friday. The results of the closely-watched wage negotiations are announced in several stages, in which the blue-chip firms are first to wrap up their talks in mid-March. The second announcement on...
Hutchmed Begins Registration Stage for Phase 2/3 Trial of Investigational Autoimmune Disorder Drug
Hutchmed Begins Registration Stage for Phase 2/3 Trial of Investigational Autoimmune Disorder Drug
Mar 22, 2024
05:04 AM EDT, 03/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Hutchmed ( HCM ) said late Thursday it has started the registration stage for a phase 2/3 clinical trial of investigational drug sovleplenib for adult patients with warm antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia in China. The move follows positive data from the proof-of-concept phase 2 stage of the trial and a consultation with the...
Once a beacon of stability, Vietnam to name third president in a year
Once a beacon of stability, Vietnam to name third president in a year
Mar 22, 2024
HANOI, March 22 (Reuters) - Communist-ruled Vietnam is seeking its third president in little more than a year after the resignation of Vo Van Thuong, who was only elected last year after the sudden dismissal of his predecessor. With accumulated foreign direct investment higher than its gross domestic product, Vietnam's stability is crucial to multinationals with large operations in the...
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved