TikTok remained unavailable in Google and Apple app stores on Tuesday – even as speculation swirled about potential US buyers that could help “save” the embattled video-sharing app.
The tech giants appeared unwilling to risk liability despite President Trump issuing an executive order late Monday delaying enforcement on Congress’s sale-or-ban bill by 75 days.
The popular China-owned video app also wasn’t available in app stores operated by Amazon and Microsoft, as operators face penalties of $5,000 per user if they allow new downloads – or updates to any of the existing 170 million US users, which could put them on the hook for $850 billion in fines.
Trump said he wants the US to have a 50% ownership stake in TikTok, though the details on the structure remain murky. The extent of TikTok parent ByteDance’s ownership in such an arrangement was unclear.
“If I do the deal for the United States, then I think we should get half,” Trump said in the Oval Office as he signed a stack of executive orders.
“I think the US should be entitled to get half of TikTok and congratulations, TikTok has a good partner.”
A host of potential American buyers has emerged, though TikTok and ByteDance previously refused to entertain sale talks during the 270 days between the law’s passage last April and its Jan. 19 deadline.
Elon Musk, the X owner and close Trump adviser who is worth roughly $428 billion, has surfaced as a possible option. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has pointed to Musk, who has close business ties to China, as a likely frontrunner.
“We believe behind the scenes there is significant activity from both financial and strategic tech buyers for the golden TikTok asset,” Ives said in a note to clients.
Multiple reports have said Chinese government officials were mulling possibly selling TikTok to Musk, though TikTok officials dismissed it as “pure fiction.”
Oracle, led by billionaire tech titan Larry Ellison, is another natural fit. The company is already TikTok’s main cloud computing partner and came close to buying TikTok as part of a joint bid with Walmart during an initial effort to ban the app in 2020. This time around, Oracle has yet to comment publicly on whether it has interest.
Billionaire Frank McCourt and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary have partnered on a $20 billion pitch to buy TikTok and rebuild its recommendation algorithm from scratch on US soil.
Former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who last year expressed interest in TikTok, told CNBC that he has since paused his plans but left open the possibility of investing in the company. Ex-Activision Blizzard chief Bobby Kotick was also said to be interested.
In a major twist, the Chinese government – which repeatedly said in the past that it would block any attempt at a forced sale – made an about-face on Monday and suggested it was open to a compromise.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said private companies can make their own decisions on “corporate operations and acquisitions.”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has stepped up his charm offensive and was spotted attending Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
Trump’s executive order gave TikTok until April 5 to hammer out a deal – though it’s unclear if the order, which overrides a law, can pass legal muster if challenged in court.
Under the divestiture law, which was upheld unanimously in the Supreme Court, an extension is only allowed if there were signs of “significant progress” toward a deal.
The app shut down for barely 12 hours before returning Sunday ahead of Trump’s inauguration. TikTok’s brief shutdown went beyond the scope of the law – which only called for an end to new downloads – and was blasted by some critics as a “stunt” designed to stoke public outrage.
Trump’s order said the US attorney general would send letters to service providers such as Apple, Google and Oracle stating that “there is no liability for any conduct that occurred during the above-specified period, as well as for any conduct from the effective date of the Act until the issuance of this Executive Order.”
It’s unlikely that a 50/50 ownership split with China with satisfy the requirements of the law, which requires a divestiture of Chinese interest in TikTok with confirmation from US government agencies that the risk has been eliminated.
“The law that Congress passed and the Supreme Court upheld requires Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores if it is still owned and controlled by a foreign adversary today – which it is,” Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of “Countering China’s Great Game,” told The Post.
Ahead of the inauguration, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) pointedly warned service providers that they face “face hundreds of billions of dollars of ruinous liability” if they defy the law.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, another close Trump ally, said Congress will “enforce the law.”