Twitter Considers Long-Shot Bid for TikTok Against Microsoft
Twitter holds preliminary talks for a potential combination with TikTok as the video app seeks to avoid a US ban. The smaller social media firm faces tough odds against a much larger Microsoft bid.
Twitter engages in preliminary discussions about a potential combination with TikTok as the video app seeks to avoid an impending US ban. President Trump issues an executive order that stops ByteDance from making transactions in the United States starting September 20, prompting TikTok to explore various rescue options. These early talks with Twitter occur before Microsoft accelerates its own well-documented acquisition negotiations.
The social media platform operates as a long-shot bidder in this high-stakes corporate race. Microsoft possesses a massive financial advantage over Twitter, whose entire market capitalization sits at $29 billion while Microsoft's estimated offer ranges between $10 billion and $30 billion. A successful Twitter acquisition requires significant outside financial assistance to even match the Microsoft bid.
Despite the financial hurdles, Twitter benefits from its smaller size by facing less antitrust scrutiny than a giant like Microsoft. Microsoft currently leads the race and plans to transfer TikTok's 15 million lines of code to the US within a year if a deal closes in the next three weeks. Separately, TikTok prepares to file a lawsuit against the Trump Administration on Tuesday, arguing that the impending ban is unconstitutional.