Twitter reportedly joins Microsoft in contest to buy TikTok

Donald Trump has given until September 15 to U.S. individuals and businesses to cease any transactions with Chinese IT giant Bytedance

Despite the President of the United States effectively signing the executive order on TikTok just last week, the story is far from over for TikTok — the Chinese-owned video sharing platform that has exploded in popularity in the past couple of years. After all, an app that has thrust a host of young people into the stratosphere of online fame and created millionaires isn’t going to go down without a fight, and it would seem that there are plenty in the U.S. who would rather the endlessly binge-able app stuck around.

As such, much has been made in recent weeks of the efforts to save TikTok, which under the executive order issued by Donald Trump late last week, has until September 15 to cease any transactions with U.S. individuals while it’s still owned by Chinese IT giant Bytedance.

Should the app’s U.S. operations be taken over by a U.S.-based buyer, TikTok would theoretically face no legal issues in remaining operational in the U.S.

With other nations now weighing up a ban over security concerns surrounding the app, finding a buyer could be key securing TikTok’s future in much of the western world.

Of course, the initial cost of forking out for an app with a growth as explosive as TikTok’s will cost a pretty penny, but two main players have emerged who appear willing to absorb the initial hit for an app that many think will only continue to grow.

Microsoft announced a couple of weeks ago of its intentions to buy-out TikTok’s operations in the U.S., Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and remains the front-runner, supported by its vast reserves of cash.

Twitter, however, has also emerged as a secondary contender, with the Wall Street Journal reporting overnight that the social network and TikTok have been in talks surrounding a partnership.

Even if the deal goes through, be it Microsoft or Twitter taking a substantial stake in TikTok, what remains to be seen is how both parties are going to move forward operationally, said communications expert Sharon Koh to the BBC.

It’s likely that the U.S. operations of TikTok would cost any potential suitor in the tens of billions of dollars alone.

It will also take a tumultuous effort for both organisations to meander through the political sensitivities, she added.