Clock resets on TikTok ban deadline as potential buyers line up

Published: April 8, 2025

After US President Donald Trump once again extended the deadline by which TikTok Inc. needs to be shuttered or sold, questions remain about the app's future and the legality of its continued operation.

In one of his first acts in his second term of office, Trump in January granted an extra 75 days for Beijing ByteDance Telecommunications Co. Ltd. to find a buyer for TikTok in the US or to shut down the app. With no deal in place and the April 5 deadline fast approaching, Trump on April 4 said in a social media post that he had given ByteDance another 75 days after the company reportedly backed out of a deal to sell the app.

"The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days," Trump wrote. "We hope to continue working in Good Faith with China, who I understand are not very happy about our Reciprocal Tariffs."

TikTok said April 4 that "key matters" still needed to be resolved. "Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law."

Legal experts note that the bipartisan law signed by former President Joe Biden, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, and the Supreme Court decision upholding that law, TikTok v. Garland, both limit the time Trump can delay the law's enforcement to a single one-time extension of no more than 90 days.

"The TikTok law that Congress passed and the Supreme Court unanimously upheld doesn't allow the president more than one extension," Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, wrote on X. "The purpose of this provision: negotiating leverage."

Amid the ongoing legal questions, TikTok remains a coveted acquisition target, said Dhaval Moogimane, who leads West Monroe's high-tech and software practice.

"TikTok is a hugely attractive asset for many players," Moogimane said in an interview. "Given the monthly user base, given the engagement levels, and the attractive demographics, it's a very good advertising platform."

Multiple large tech companies have expressed interest in TikTok. AppLovin Corp. confirmed this month that it had "provided an indication of interest" to Trump for TikTok operations in all markets outside of China. Published reports have also indicated that Amazon.com Inc. has made a last-minute bid for the social media platform, with its status as TikTok's cloud client potentially giving it an edge over its peers.

"It not only is among the top advertisers in TikTok app, but also, Amazon's cloud wing known as Amazon Web [Services] provides technical support to enable and [deliver] TikTok videos to millions of users in America," Partha Dey, senior vice president at Citi, said in an email to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Jonathan Gudai, CEO of AdOmni, said Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. are well-positioned to acquire TikTok because of their connections to China and interest in datacenter infrastructure.

"Each have the capital means, the political clout and the strategic upside potential," Gudai said in an email to Market Intelligence. "Oracle already has the datacenter business; they don't yet have a major consumer-facing product so this would be a diversification play and they are big investors in AI, which could be a boon for TikTok's app and ad business."

TikTok could complement LinkedIn, and Microsoft also has a strategic interest in capturing datacenter market share from Oracle, Gudai added.

Apple presents an intriguing alternative, Gudai said, because of its plans to build out a larger ad business. Its privacy-focused approach could mitigate the security concerns that led to the ban, and its desire to maintain its walled garden could help flip Android users over to iPhone with a distinct iOs version of the app.

TikTok, ByteDance, AppLovin, Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft and Apple did not immediately respond to Market Intelligence's requests for comment.

Written By: Stefan Modrich

To get the latest updates on out of home advertising, digital marketing and technology, follow us on: