The tech giant is also riding the wave of a massive win, having successfully acquired Activision Blizzard last year, and Rodriguez Horta does not believe regulatory interference is a major threat to Microsoft right now.
“If [antitrust] was a real roadblock, Microsoft’s legal team would have not wasted time in 2020,” Rodriguez Horta said.
Others suggest that Microsoft’s focus on AI ventures, including its substantial investment of $13 billion in OpenAI, makes acquiring TikTok less of a priority.
“TikTok doesn’t play into its playbook,” said Marc Goldberg, CEO of the consulting firm Stages Collective.
Oracle
Oracle is a logical contender, because it is the primary cloud vendor for TikTok’s U.S. business.
In September 2020, Oracle and Walmart also secured tentative U.S. approval for a joint 20% acquisition of a new business named TikTok Global, the companies said in a joint statement. However, the Trump-sanctioned deal fell through after the change in presidential administration in early 2021.
“In our view, given past interest and strategically, [it] would make a logical fit,” said Ives.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s son David Ellison, who is reportedly among the contenders to acquire Paramount Global, might also make a play.
“If that falls through, he has the backing to buy TikTok,” said a banker who is leading a deal that involves TikTok, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Amazon
Amazon has the firepower to get the deal done, and it doesn’t own a social network of its own. This means it won’t trigger monopoly or antitrust issues, said Darren Lopes, co-founder of 10PM Curfew, social-first publisher that owns and operates more than 60 lifestyle channels.
An acquisition might also be advantageous to Amazon, as TikTok recently launched a competitive online marketplace Shop.
“Amazon already has the server infrastructure to support all the TikTok videos and incentive to stop their ecommerce growth and roll it up into their own initiatives,” said Lopes. “Moreover, TikTok has been a massive driver with their Amazon Finds videos, but now with TikTok Shop, it has driven away revenue and traffic from Amazon.”
Meanwhile, Amazon’s history of creating sophisticated recommendation algorithm that has fueled its revenue positions the company well to potentially rebuild TikTok’s algorithm. With its financial prowess—generating nearly $575 billion in revenue last year—Amazon has the capacity to execute such a venture, said Stages Collective’s Goldberg.
Private investors
Backed by private equity and consortiums, former Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to “put together a group” that bids for TikTok, Mnuchin told CNBC in March.
Meanwhile, Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), led by Philip Anschutz of the Anschutz family and boasting a net worth of $15.3 billion, according to Forbes, also owns assets like Ticketmaster. According to the banker sources, AEG has the financial capability to pursue the acquisition of TikTok.
Still, the essence of TikTok lies in its core content recommendation algorithm and its uncanny ability to keep its users glued to their screens.
