The failure of Microsoft’s TikTok deal promoted by the U.S. government under Donald Trump’s administration was the “strangest thing” its CEO Satya Nadella has ever worked on, the giant’s leader admitted.
It was reported under threat from a U.S. ban on the popular social media app that Microsoft was considering taking over from Chinese company ByteDance. The Microsoft boss, who was also a board member while he was CEO of the tech giant, made his final remarks at the Code Conference, where he was a speaker.
It should be noted that other top tech personalities graced the event, including Warner Media CEO Jason Kilar, Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, Netflix Co-CEO, and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the company’s bid to acquire the U.S. assets of ByteDance’s TikTok was the “strangest thing” he’s ever worked on https://t.co/MNsEZt58Qr
— Bloomberg (@business) September 28, 2021
AMD President and CEO Lisa Su; and Tesla, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, were among the 2021 speakers at the annual event. According to Engadget, the deal between Microsoft and TikTok’s parent company ByteDance grew out of then-US President Donald Trump’s threat to ban the China-based video-sharing platform.
Strangest Thing Deal
At the time, Microsoft was negotiating to buy the popular Chinese app in some of its territories, such as the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. However, the deal between the two tech giants fell through. Instead, another bidder, Oracle, won the TikTok deal a few days after the ban expired in the United States or on September 13, 2020.
As such, Oracle now provides cloud servers for Chinese applications. A year after Microsoft’s talks with TikTok broke down, the company’s tech CEO provided more details on the deal. Nadella pointed out that the Chinese tech company first approached Microsoft about the deal, stating that “TikTok came to see us, we didn’t go to TikTok.”
Microsoft and Tiktok deal
The Microsoft executive also said at the conference that TikTok was caught between many issues they were having in two capitals and wanted to collaborate. He then revealed that TikTok, during this time, was looking for a cloud provider who could also provide security services.
Nadella also said he was intrigued, adding that TikTok was “an interesting product.” However, between TikTok and Microsoft talks, POTUS Trump has said he would instead ban the Chinese app than allowing its sale in the United States, which has impacted the ongoing negotiations between the two giants of technology.
But after TikTok, after the Trump administration accused the Chinese app of being a “national security concern.”
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