Microsoft Could Announce Deal To Buy TikTok Within 48 Hours

Hours after TikTok’s American CEO quit the company due to the increasingly untenable geopolitical pressure, the financial press is reporting that a deal for Microsoft to buy TikTok’s US business could be announced in the next 48 hours.

Mayer resigned earlier  amid reports that Oracle and Microsoft were both pursuing a deal, while Google parent Alphabet affirmed that it was not considering an offer for TikTok.

Now, it appears Microsoft has managed to convince TikTok’s management that a tie-up with one of the world’s biggest and most storied tech firms would carry fewer risks and be more lucrative than a deal with Oracle.

Trump has signed two executive orders targeting TikTok and seeking to bar its use in the US if Chinese parent ByteDance doesn’t agree to sell the US business to an American company.

• TIKTOK SALE TO MICROSOFT COULD COME IN THE NEXT 48 HOURS: CNBC

It all sounds vaguely contradictory: why would Mayer quit if a deal was within his grasp? We feel like now would be a good time to remind readers to take all of this deal speculation with a grain of salt.