Report: Amazon put in a bid to acquire TikTok ahead of U.S. ban

Move over, Microsoft. Amazon is the latest Seattle-area tech giant being tied to a potential acquisition of TikTok. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Amazon put in an offer letter addressed to Trump administration officials, but that those involved in talks about the future of the video-sharing app do not appear to be taking the bid seriously. Prompted by national security concerns related to TikTok’s Chinese owners, ByteDance, lawmakers passed a law last year to force a sale of TikTok, which was supposed to take effect in January. President Trump managed to force a delay until this Saturday, and… Read More

Apr 2, 2025 - 18:08

Report: Amazon put in a bid to acquire TikTok ahead of U.S. ban

The Spheres are reflected in one of Amazon’s corporate office towers at the company’s headquarters in Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

Move over, Microsoft. Amazon is the latest Seattle-area tech giant being tied to a potential acquisition of TikTok.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Amazon put in an offer letter addressed to Trump administration officials, but that those involved in talks about the future of the video-sharing app do not appear to be taking the bid seriously.

Prompted by national security concerns related to TikTok’s Chinese owners, ByteDance, lawmakers passed a law last year to force a sale of TikTok, which was supposed to take effect in January. President Trump managed to force a delay until this Saturday, and without a sale, TikTok faces a ban in the United States.

The Times reported that another potential deal could involve bringing on a number of new U.S. investors, including tech giant Oracle, and Blackstone, the private equity firm, while sidestepping a formal sale.

Microsoft and Walmart made a joint bid for TikTok in 2020 that was rejected by ByteDance. In that bid, reportedly in the range of $20 billion to $30 billion, Microsoft insisted on acquiring full control of the social video app’s U.S. operations, data, source code and algorithms, declining to settle for a lesser deal that didn’t put those key assets in its hands.

The Times noted Amazon’s ties to TikTok, which has become a major retail shopping player with its TikTok Shop, saying that many influencers on TikTok encourage people to buy products on Amazon, which gives influencers a cut of the transactions.

Earlier this year, Amazon shut down “Inspire,” a TikTok-like short-form video and photo feed in its mobile app designed to help customers discover and shop for products.

TikTok has 170 million users in the U.S. ByteDance has an engineering office in Bellevue, Wash.