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TikTok's North American business rumored to sell at $20-30 billion

Walmart is among those in talks to acquire TikTok.

Donovan Erskine

August 27, 2020 2:00 PM

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Anybody who spends a considerable amount of time on the internet is surely familiar with TikTok, a social media centered platform around creating and sharing videos. Despite TikTok’s enormous success the app has been under much scrutiny for the ethics behind some of the software used in the program. It’s now being reported that TikTok’s North American business is up for sale, and could go for around $20-30 billion.

The conversation around TikTok reached new heights back when Donald Trump announced that he was planning to ban the app in the United States. Following this news, Trump elaborated on his statement, saying that he would reconsider the move if the app were acquired by an American company by September 15. Since then, we’ve seen names like Microsoft thrown into the ring in a battle to purchase one of the world’s biggest entertainment platforms. 

Oddly enough, Walmart has joined the fray in the bidding war for TikTok. On August 27, CNBC reported that TikTok’s North American operations were selling for somewhere between $20-30 billion. On the same day, Walmart announced that they would be partnering with Microsoft to acquire the app. That’s quite a steep buying price, but if there’s any American companies with billions of dollars lying around, it’s Walmart and Microsoft.

“We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of U.S. TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of U.S. government regulators.” Walmart said in a statement.

Security concerns around TikTok stem from the app’s Chinese ownership. Owned by ByteDance, TikTok provides the developer with a large amount of user information, including their location. It’s this matter that led Trump to threaten banning the platform in the United States altogether. As we inch closer towards the supposed September 15 cutoff date, we’ll be sure to give you more updates on the TikTok acquisition right here on Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_