Tech giant Microsoft\u2019s offer to purchase popular short-video format application TikTok\u2019s operations from its parent company ByteDance was rejected on Sunday as the deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump for the Chinese company to divest ownership of the app nears.<\/p>\n
In a statement<\/a>, Microsoft said they were informed on September 13 by ByteDance that it will not be selling TikTok\u2019s US operations to Redmond, the Washington-based company.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWe are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok\u2019s users while protecting national security interests,\u201d Microsoft said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n Microsoft said their offer to TikTok would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas,\u201d Microsoft said in its September 13 statement.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, only a few days before President Donald Trump\u2019s deadline on September 20, the New York Times reported<\/a>, that another American company Oracle was chosen as TikTok\u2019s partner in its U.S. operations.<\/p>\n Citing sources from Microsoft and other people involved in negotiations, the New York Times report said it is still unclear if Oracle as the company\u2019s technology partner will also take majority ownership in the popular social media app.<\/p>\n The announcement came as a shock to the tech community as Microsoft has been seen as an early frontrunner in the negotiations to purchase the popular short-form video application as many see the tech giant as having deep pockets to carry out the expected multimillion-dollar deal.<\/p>\n The U.S. enterprise software giant, following Microsoft\u2019s lead, was also in talks with a group of U.S. venture capitalists<\/a> General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital that are also shareholders in TikTok in assisting them in the negotiations.<\/p>\n Although Microsoft has earlier been working with the US government to seal the deal with ByteDance, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a big supporter of President Trump, was seen as a frontrunner in closing the deal.<\/p>\n Earlier on August 6, U.S. President Donald Trump through an Executive Order<\/a> told TikTok\u2019s parent company ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets as part of the White House\u2019s efforts to put pressure on the Chinese company.<\/p>\n Trump issued the latest order on top of the previous executive order that commands U.S. businesses not to transact businesses with the Chinese company citing national security concerns.<\/p>\n Back in August, Bytedance and Microsoft announced they are in talks to sell TikTok not only in the United States but also in Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n
Trump\u2019s Executive Order for ByteDance to divest assets looms<\/h2>\n