Time is running out to find a new owner for TikTok in the U.S., and a handful of big names are now in the mix to make it happen before the app is banned on April 5.
Andreessen Horowitz is reportedly in talks to buy out Chinese stakeholders as part of a broader bid led by Oracle (ORCL, Financial), according to The Financial Times. Blackstone Group (BX, Financial) is also said to be involved in late-stage discussions to split TikTok from its parent company, ByteDance (BDNCE).
It's not just about closing a deal—tensions between the U.S. and China could make negotiations even trickier. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called TikTok “one of the biggest chips on the poker table” in ongoing U.S.-China relations. With tariff announcements expected soon, Ives said the White House will need to tread carefully.
A deal led by Oracle, which already hosts TikTok's cloud infrastructure, seems the most likely path forward. That structure could keep ByteDance's algorithm in China, but allow Oracle to manage U.S. user data—possibly with ByteDance holding a small minority stake. Still, under U.S. law, ByteDance can't keep more than a 20% share or have any control over data or algorithms.
President Trump appears open to extending the deadline to get a deal done and has floated the idea of easing tariffs on China if it helps move things forward.
“We have a lot of potential buyers,” he said recently, even hinting that “maybe” he'll shave a couple of points off tariffs if there's an agreement.
But if no deal is made in time, TikTok will be blocked in the U.S. starting April 5.
