Amazon submits last-minute bid to purchase TikTok ahead of US ban deadline | Company Business News

Amazon has put in a bid to purchase TikTok, a Trump administration official said Wednesday, in an eleventh-hour pitch as a U.S. ban on the platform is set to go into effect Saturday.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Amazon offer was made in a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day gave the platform a reprieve, barreling past a law that had been upheld unanimously by the Supreme Court, which said the ban was necessary for national security.

Under the law, TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance is required to sell the platform to an approved buyer or take it offline in the United States. Trump has suggested he could further extend the pause on the ban, but he has also said he expects a deal to be forged by Saturday.

The company sent its proposal in a letter to Vice President JD Vance, who’s heading efforts to help facilitate a sale of the US operations of the video platform ahead of a deadline later this week, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the people said.

But the bid, reported earlier by the New York Times, is not being considered seriously by the administration, according to the person, who discussed the sale process on the condition of anonymity. The company declined to comment.

Even if Amazon’s bid fails to gain traction inside the White House, the company’s interest could compel other suitors to pay more, which squeezes more money out of a potential rival. Being involved in negotiations could also give Amazon visibility into TikTok’s financial performance, including its TikTok Shop, a rising competitor to Amazon’s online retail business.

President Donald Trump is expected to meet with Vance and other top administration officials Wednesday afternoon to consider proposals for divesting TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. The administration is weighing other plans, including one that would include Oracle Corp. and Blackstone Inc. and potentially other investors in a joint venture, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Trump faces an April 5 deadline for ByteDance to find a buyer for TikTok’s US operations or see the app banned in the country, though he has said he would be willing to extend the deadline as necessary. A bipartisan group of US lawmakers passed the law, signed by former President Joe Biden, last year to address concerns that the Chinese government could collect sensitive data on US citizens.

Trump has extended the deadline once already from an initial date of Jan. 19. Even if he signs off on the proposal, it would still require approval from TikTok’s parent company and the Chinese government. It remains unclear whether ByteDance and the Chinese have been involved in the conversations.