Microsoft’s attempt to buy the US operations of TikTok, a video service owned by China’s ByteDance, fell apart on Sunday when TikTok announced they were rejecting the deal. A few hours later, TikTok announced a deal with Oracle.
Faced with President Trump’s threat to ban TikTok, Microsoft, partnering with Walmart, attempted to buy the US operations outright. The plan was endorsed by the Trump Administration, though Trump argued the US government should get most of the money for holding off on the ban.
This didn’t sit well with China, and the PRC government sought to limit sales under certain circumstances. This likely was a big part of why TikTok rejected the offer, as while Microsoft said the sale would be good for customers and good for US national security, it’s not at all clear it was good for ByteDance.
The deal with Oracle is less clear, as reports are that it will be short of a proper sale, and more a partnership wherein Oracle would make some assurances of US control over the data. It’s not at all clear Trump will withhold his ban for that, especially since there is no sign the government will get any money out of it.
Larry Ellison has been a big proponent and donator to Trump. Of course Oracle is going to get the deal. Bets were on them for a while now.