Amazon and OnlyFans lead bids to acquire TikTok ahead of the looming auction deadline
As TikTok’s weekend deadline for finding a buyer approaches, bidders for the short-form video social network pile up.
Amazon and a partnership led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely are the latest to enter the TikTok competition. The platform must negotiate an agreement and find a non-Chinese buyer by April 5 or risk being banned in the United States.
US officials cited concerns about the app’s security due to its ties to China, which TikTok and its owner, ByteDance, have rejected.
Startup Zoop, helmed by Stokely, inventor of adult content social network OnlyFans, has collaborated with a cryptocurrency foundation to launch a late-stage bid for TikTok, the two announced Wednesday.
A US government official revealed that Amazon wrote a letter to Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Department Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Following the announcement of the late-breaking deal for TikTok, Amazon’s stock surged approximately 2%.
