Days before the deadline for TikTok in the US to find a buyer, Amazon has made an undisclosed takeover offer.
According to Reuters, a US government official confirmed that Amazon sent a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the acquisition of the Chinese short-video social network, just before the April 5 deadline.
Both billionaire Jeff Bezos' company and ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, declined to comment. Amazon's shares immediately rose 2% following the news.
Amazon has long been interested in developing a social network to help its platform sell more goods and attract younger users. The company bought 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 of its own.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos' company also developed and tested a short-form video and photo platform similar to TikTok called Inspire but shut it down earlier this year.
In addition to Amazon, a startup called Zoop, run by Stokely, the founder of adult social network OnlyFans, also made a last-minute offer to buy TikTok. According to the New York Times, multiple parties involved in the TikTok acquisition talks appear to have discounted Amazon's offer.
Last month, President Trump said his administration had contacted four different groups about the deal but declined to identify them.
The White House-led talks include plans to spin off a US entity for TikTok and reduce China’s ownership of the new business below the 20% threshold required by US law.
TikTok is currently valued at $50 billion. ByteDance has not confirmed that it is in talks with potential buyers and has declined to say whether it would agree to sell TikTok to a US company.
0 Comments