Last Friday (7/31), when everyone was preparing to spend the weekend happily, President Trump suddenly issued an order: Let Tiktok a limited timeOrder to transfer ownershipIf it is not transferred to a U.S. company, its use is directly prohibited in the U.S.

Then, the fantasy acquisition situation officially began.On Saturday (8/1), news broke that Microsoft was ready to take over, but Trump clearly opposed it.

On Saturday morning, according to an exclusive report by Reuters, a person familiar with the matter saidByteDance Has agreed to completely divest TikTok’s US business,But the White House has not yet responded to whether to accept the Bytedance concession.

According to ByteDance’s new proposal,Microsoft will be responsible for protecting all user data of TikTok in the United States. The plan also allows another American company to take over TikTok in the United States.

From the beginningIt was reported that it was banned, and later the House of Representatives passed a bill to prohibit government equipment vendors from installing TikTok, and then Trump proposed "ban if you don't sell it"...

On Sunday (8/2) Microsoft announced that it would continue to negotiate the acquisition.

On Monday (8/3), Trump stipulated that if Tiktok cannot be sold to U.S. sellers before September 9, it will stop its operations in the U.S., and there are very unusual ancillary conditions, announcing that if the sale is successful, the U.S. Treasury Department will Get part of the profit from it.He also said: Tiktok is a very valuable asset, but wants to make it valuable in the United States, unless it is American.It has no rights now, unless the United States grants it.

(Original from CNN https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/tech/tiktok-acquisition-trump-treasury/index.html）

This logic, full marks,

Reminds me of love business

  

This time it became: if the leader said to sell, he had to sell. . .

Trump forced Bytedance to sell TikTok?

 

According to Bloomberg News, Trump plans to issue a division of ownership order (divestiture order), forcibly requiring Bytedance to remove the ownership of TikTok.To put it simply and crudely: it is to buy and sell strongly.

Trump also told reporters: "We have been staring at TikTok, we may ban TikTok, we are also staring at other apps similar to TikTok."

If you don't sell it, you can block it. What legal basis does the US government have to force Bytedance to sell TikTok? The International Emergency Economic Power Act (IEEPA) of 1977 obtained a legal basis. The President of the United States has the right to declare a state of emergency and take actions against commercial activities in the international market based on the state of national security threats.After the September 2001 incident in 911, the US Congress passed the "Patriot Act", authorizing the government to take action against foreign assets during the investigation, which means that no actual evidence and reasons are needed.

in addition,ByteDance acquired Shanghai-based video application Musical.ly for US$2017 billion in 10 and relaunched it as TikTok the following year.Musical.lyIt had more than 2 million users, including more than 2000 million users in the US market.At the time, ByteDance did not seek approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).The committee is responsible for reviewing potential national security risk transactions, and if the US government needs it, it can allowCFIUSReview the transaction and investigate.

Why must we target TikTok?

After the U.S. banned Huawei for security reasons last year, this year it also targeted TikTok. According to the Washington Times, this divestment order heraldedThe Trump administration will become increasingly strict with China and its technology companies.

The essence of TikTok is the struggle between China and the United States for the right to speak on the Internet.In January and February of 2020, TikTok defeated WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and other American social giants, becoming the world's most downloaded app.

The pattern of the world's mobile Internet was originally played by China and the United States. This time, TikTok came out. The US government saw that its top position in the global discourse system was about to fall. For fear that TikTok's Chinese ancestry would make it a pawn in the game between the two countries, it quickly jumped out and strangled it in the cradle.

The U.S. government cannot bear it, and its competitors are not idle. On July 7, when attending the "antitrust" hearings of the four technology giants Apple, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Amazon, and Facebook, Facebook’s CEO Mark·Zach Burke claims that China is"Build your own Internet, based on very different values ​​(from the United States), and export this vision to other countries." 

Microsoft becomes the biggest competitor to acquire TikTok?

 

With Trump'sDivestment orderAfter the release, Charlie Gasparino, a senior reporter from Fox Finance Network, broke the news on Twitter.Said that Microsoft is in talks with BytedanceTalk about the acquisition of TikTok.Gasparino said that bank sources have confirmed that Microsoft is intervening, and negotiations with ByteDance have been conducted.A month. However, no media response has been received from Microsoft or TikTok.

Gasparino also quoted an unnamed information source as saying that the White House still expressed “great concerns” about Microsoft or other investors from China taking over TikTok.

Microsoft just shut down its own live streaming platform Mixer, and its two largest game anchors Ninja and Shroud moved to Facebook Gaming. If they really want to acquire TikTok, does it mean that Microsoft also wants to enter the social media field next?

 

TikTok asThe super-popular social app in the US is not only a competitor of many giants, but also a piece of sweet pastry. Which companies will it attract to join the acquisition war?

It is reported that Bytedance's existing investors, Sequoia Capital, etc., have also expressed interest in the acquisition, and they have given TikTok a valuation of US$500 billion.

It seems that the United States will not stop its various interventions in TikTok and its intervention in transactions, and the US government has blatantly divided it!

What is the fate of TikTok?I hope ByteDance and TikTok, which have been developing rapidly overseas, can get out of the predicament as soon as possible🙏

Reference:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/tech/tiktok-acquisition-trump-treasury/index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/07/31/tiktok-trump-divestiture/

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-tiktok-donald-trump-bytedance-2020-7

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-31/trump-to-order-china-s-bytedance-to-sell-tiktok-u-s-operations

https://twitter.com/CGasparino

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-bytedance-exclusive/exclusive-tiktoks-chinese-owner-offers-to-forego-stake-to-clinch-u-s-deal-sources-idUSKBN24X3SK

https://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2020-08-01/doc-iivhuipn6201834.shtml

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/tiktok-ceo-blasts-zuckerberg-attacks-disguised-as-patriotism/articleshow/77253430.cms

https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2020/07/29/a-reported-takeover-bid-values-tiktok-at-50-billion/#63028a503a5c

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2020/07/11/tiktok-seriously-dangerous-warning-delete-app-trump-ban/#7f2057432b0e

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