Oracle offers $20 billion for TikTok and Microsoft joins forces with Walmart

Oracle's offer comes as TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer steps down

Oracle is reportedly offering $20 billion to buy Chinese app TikTok

Dev Kundaliya
28 August 2020

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Oracle, the database software giant owned by Larry Ellison, is ready to pay $20 billion to acquire the Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok.

That's according to The Wrap, which cites a source with knowledge of the matter. The source claims that the proposed deal would comprise $10 billion in cash and $10 billion in Oracle stock.

Oracle is also ready to pay 50 per cent of TikTok's annual profit from US operations to ByteDance for two years.

ByteDance investors Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic are reportedly discussing the profit-sharing part of the deal with White House officials to ensure that it meets the President's requirements.

This is the first time that an exact figure has been placed on TikTok acquisition, which is estimated to have a value up to $50 billion.

Oracle's offer for the Chinese app has come at the time when retailer Walmart has shown an interest in joining forces with Microsoft in its bid to purchase TikTok.

"We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators," Walmart said in a statement, according to Reuters.

A deal with TikTok could help Walmart to grow its online marketplace by reaching customers across virtual and physical sales channels.

On Thursday, TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer also announced his decision to quit TikTok due to rising political pressure on the Chinese social media app.

"In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for," Mr Mayer said in a letter to employees.

"Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company," he added.

A spokesman for TikTok said that the company respects Mayer's decision and wishes him well for the future.

Mayer joined the firm about three months ago, to help grow TikTok's user base in the USA and to give it an American image.

However, changes in the geopolitical environment in recent months have put intense pressure on TikTok, specifically from the Trump administration.

US officials are concerned that the Chinese app could spy on American users and share their private data with Beijing.

Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order that would ban TikTok's operations in the US if it is not sold to an American firm by mid-November.

So far, Microsoft, Oracle and Twitter have shown interest in buying the app from owner ByteDance.

Microsoft said earlier this month that it was exploring a deal to buy TikTok's operations in the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, although it did not disclose the amount that it was willing to pay.

Later, it emerged that the software giant was also mulling a plan to purchase all of TikTok's global operations, including its business in Europe and India.

A source familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that Microsoft was discussing an agreement that would give it one year to separate TikTok from ByteDance, and to address concerns over the security of users' data.