Factbox-Groups that have bid for TikTok or expressed interest

In a significant development, President Donald Trump announced a groundbreaking agreement between the United States and China that will enable TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. This milestone follows extensive negotiations aimed at easing the ongoing trade tensions between the two largest economies, which have created uncertainty in global markets. The new arrangement resembles earlier discussions, requiring the transfer of TikTok's American assets from China's ByteDance to U.S. owners. This may finally bring closure to a situation that has persisted for nearly a year. "We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it," Trump stated, as the December 16 deadline to sell or shut down the app looms. With approximately 170 million users in the U.S., TikTok has garnered interest from various potential buyers. The details of the arrangement indicate that ByteDance will retain the largest ownership share at 19.9%, just below the critical 20% threshold. A consortium, including ByteDance's existing shareholders such as Susquehanna International Group (SIG), General Atlantic, and KKR, is poised to hold 80%. Oracle, a major player in cloud computing valued at over $871 billion, is also expected to secure a stake in the deal. As the primary provider of cloud services for TikTok's U.S. operations, Oracle plays a pivotal role in managing the app's infrastructure and user data. Amazon, with a market cap exceeding $2.5 trillion, has reportedly made a last-minute offer to acquire TikTok's assets outside of China, confirmed by a U.S. administration official. Additionally, a startup led by Tim Stokely, the founder of OnlyFans, is collaborating with a cryptocurrency foundation to submit a plan to acquire TikTok from ByteDance. Their intent to bid was recently communicated to the White House. AppLovin, valued at $204 billion, has also thrown its hat into the ring, proposing a more extensive deal that would merge TikTok's global operations outside of China with its own. Perplexity AI, a startup specializing in AI-driven search engines, has expressed interest in acquiring TikTok's U.S. operations, suggesting a merger that would involve significant government ownership. Moreover, Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced that Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, will join his bid for TikTok, focusing on user data control. A consortium of investors led by tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley and popular YouTuber MrBeast has made a substantial cash offer of $30 billion for TikTok's U.S. operations. Finally, Microsoft remains a significant player in this landscape, having previously engaged in talks to acquire TikTok. The tech giant, valued at $3.78 trillion, was a top contender in 2020 before negotiations fell through. During his presidency, Trump had mandated the separation of TikTok's U.S. operations from its Chinese parent company due to national security concerns.