Read more about Microsoft talk of buying TikTok’s US operations raises hackles in China on Business Standard. The proposed acquisition of parts of TikTok, which boasts 100 mn US users, would offer Microsoft an opportunity to become a major competitor to social media giants such as Facebook and Snap Inc
A potential shotgun wedding to Corp for TikTok’s US operations provoked an outcry on Chinese social media as well as criticism from a prominent Chinese investor in owner ByteDance. The US tech giant formally declared its interest on Sunday after President Donald Trump, who has cited national security risks posed by the Chinese-owned short video app, reversed course on a planned ban and gave the two firms 45 days to come to a deal. The proposed acquisition of parts of TikTok, which boasts 100 million US users, would offer a rare opportunity to become a major competitor to social media giants such as Facebook Inc and Snap Inc. which owns the social media network LinkedIn for professional workers, is also seeking to buy TikTok’s Canadian, Australian and New Zealand interests. ByteDance has not publicly confirmed the sale talks. But in an internal letter to staff on Monday seen by Reuters, the company’s founder and CEO Zhang Yiming said the firm had started talks with a tech company it did not identify to clear the way « for us to continue offering the app in the US.
