Tiktok ‘nears deal’ for sale of US operations after chief exec quits
Short-form video app Tiktok is nearing a deal for its US operations, CNBC reported today, ahead of a potential ban in the country.
The reports come just hours after chief executive Kevin Mayer quit his role at the firm, citing political pressure from the White House.
According to the report, Mayer was initially going to announced that he was stepping down at the same time that the sale was confirmed.
A sale could be announced in the coming days, it added. Tiktok declined to comment on the report.
The hit app is understood to be in talks with Oracle and Microsoft over a deal. CNBC said that retail giant Walmart had confirmed that it was joining the latter’s bid for the social media firm.
In a statement, Walmart said: “The way Tiktok has integrated e-commerce and advertising capabilities in other markets is a clear benefit to creators and users in those markets.
“We believe a potential relationship with Tiktok US in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses.
“We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US Tiktok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators.”
Earlier this week, Tiktok launched legal action against the Trump administration over an executive order banning US companies from doing business with the social media platform.
Trump gave Tiktok’s Chinese owner Bytedance 90 days to sell up to an American buyer or face the ban.
Any such deal is expected to be worth up to $30bn, similar to the market capitalisation of fellow tech giant Twitter.
On Monday, Bytedance said that it had been left with “no choice” but to sue Trump over the potential ban.
It said that it strongly disagreed with the White House’s position that Tiktok presented a national security threat.
It also accused Trump of using the executive order as a campaigning ploy to ramp up a “broader campaign of anti-China rhetoric” ahead of November’s US presidential election.
In a statement earlier today, Mayer, who joined from Disney just three months ago, said he was departing with a “heavy heart”.
“In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” he wrote.
“Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company.”