Microsoft Could Buy TikTok for as Much as $30 Billion or as Low as $10 Billion

UTC by Darya Rudz · 3 min read
Microsoft Could Buy TikTok for as Much as $30 Billion or as Low as $10 Billion
Photo: Depositphotos

If the deal goes through, Microsoft would have one year to transfer TikTok’s 15 million code lines to the U.S.

Tech giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is planning to buy social media app TikTok. According to the company’s blog post, Microsoft is now in talks with ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. It hopes to complete the acquisition by September 15.  The sum of the deal is not yet clear, but it could be between $10 billion and $30 billion.

Microsoft decided to buy TikTok came after the U.S. President Donald Trump administration announced plans to ban the TikTok app on the premise that it is capable of being used to gather data on Americans for use by Beijing. As Microsoft has explained, the acquisition involves the app’s operations in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Besides, Microsoft hopes to allow American investors to participate in minority ownership of the company in this purchase. The software giant will operate the company under a new structure.

If the deal goes through, Microsoft would have one year to transfer TikTok’s 15 million code lines to the U.S.

Speaking of handling data, Microsoft said:

“Among other measures, Microsoft would ensure that all private data of TikTok’s American users is transferred to and remains in the United States. To the extent that any such data is currently stored or backed-up outside the United States, Microsoft would ensure that this data is deleted from servers outside the country after it is transferred.”

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is actively participating in the process, and Microsoft said it “appreciates the U.S. Government’s and President Trump’s personal involvement as it continues to develop strong security protections for the country”.

Pavel Durov: ‘the U.S. Move against TikTok Is Setting a Dangerous Precedent’

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has commented on the U.S. move against TikTok.

“I can understand why the US gov threatens to ban TikTok unless its US assets are sold to US investors. After all, China bans pretty much every non-Chinese social media app on its territory. Why should the rest of the world, including the US, let a Chinese app have a free ride in their markets? If you want to access the markets of other countries, you should also open your market to them – that would be fair,” said he.

Criticizing the U.S., he further added:

“However, the US move against TikTok is setting a dangerous precedent that may eventually kill the internet as a truly global network (or what is left of it). Before the US-TikTok saga, only autocratic countries like Iran, China or Russia were known for bullying tech companies into selling parts of their businesses to investors with close ties to their governments. It’s not surprising, for example, that Uber had to sell both their Russian and Chinese branches to local players.”

According to Durov, the U.S. has always been the defender of free trade and free speech. But now, China is replacing them as the main beneficiary of global trade. As a result, the U.S. is less enthusiastic about those values. And this is regrettable, because “billions of people on this planet still like the idea of an open and interconnected world.”

In addition, Durov mentioned offers to sell Telegram operations to specific countries. As he said, he is proud of declining all such offers, as it looks like betraying Telegram users. According to Durov, Telegram’s position is not selling, neither in part nor in full. Therefore, his response to threats and warnings about blocking Telegram was showing his middle finger.

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