Amazon has put in a last-minute bid to acquire all of TikTok, the popular video app, as it approaches an April deadline to be separated from its Chinese owner or face a ban in the United States, according to three people familiar with the bid.
Various parties who have been involved in the talks do not appear to be taking Amazon’s bid seriously, the people said. The bid came via an offer letter addressed to Vice President JD Vance and Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, according to a person briefed on the matter.
Amazon’s bid highlights the 11th-hour maneuvering in Washington over TikTok’s ownership. Policymakers in both parties have expressed deep national security concerns over the app’s Chinese ownership, and passed a law last year to force a sale of TikTok that was set to take effect in January.
President Trump, who has pledged repeatedly to save the app despite the national security concerns, delayed the enforcement of that law until Saturday, even after it was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court.
Amazon declined to comment. TikTok didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Trump was slated to meet with top White House officials Wednesday to discuss TikTok’s fate. People familiar with the talks have outlined a potential deal that could involve bringing on a number of new U.S. investors, including Oracle, the technology giant; and Blackstone, the private equity firm, while sidestepping a formal sale. But it isn’t clear that such a structure would satisfy the conditions of the federal law.
Amazon has some ties to TikTok. The video app, which counts 170 million users in the United States, has become a major hub of retail shopping, with influencers recommending products to viewers. While the company has its own e-commerce operation known as TikTok Shop, many influencers encourage people to buy products on Amazon, which gives the influencers a cut of the transactions. It has also provided some technical infrastructure.
Amazon had previously tried to make a TikTok clone of sorts, called Inspire, inside its own app. Internally, it was a high-profile initiative, but was widely seen as unsuccessful at attracting shoppers. The company removed it from the app this year.
Amazon isn’t the first retailer to express interest in the app. In 2020, when TikTok was first pressured to sell to American owners, Microsoft and Walmart made a bid for the company.
But Amazon would be the most high-profile bidder for the company, which has also attracted interest from the billionaire Frank McCourt as well as Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the payroll firm Employer.com.
The buzz around the company has also invited a spate of last-minute offers. On Wednesday, a firm called Zoop, whose leaders include the founder of OnlyFans, the adult entertainment site, said that it submitted a bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations. Zoop said it was partnering with a cryptocurrency foundation on its plan and that it had been communicating with the White House.
TikTok has maintained that it is not for sale, partly, it says, because the Chinese government would block a deal.
Theodore Schleifer contributed reporting.
