Microsoft CEO: Trump's pressure to buy TikTok was the 'most bizarre' thing in his career

In August 2020, after Donald Trump’s decree, American companies sought to buy the TikTok operation in the United States

CEO of a company MicrosoftAnd Satya Nadella, failed attempt to buy tik tok, coordinated by former US President Donald Trump In the second half of last year, it was “the strangest thing” he had seen in his career. Nadella was attending Code Conference, a technology event in Beverly Hills, US, on Monday, 27.

Nadella admitted that the negotiations over TikTok did not come from Microsoft, but from the app itself. At the time, TikTok was harassed by Trump, who ordered ByteDance, the app’s controller, to sell its US assets to a US company. If it doesn’t, TikTok will face the risk of being banned in September 2020. Conversations began in August, but the following month, Microsoft pulled out of the process.

“TikTok got stuck in a series of issues and wanted to be a partner,” the Microsoft chief said, according to reports on the site. the edge and CNBC News. According to Nadella, ByteDance was initially looking for a US-based cloud service provider that would ensure data security and mollify the president, who accused the company of selling US TikTok user information to the Chinese government.

As for Nadella, Trump soon lost interest in the deal, though he doesn’t know the exact reason for that, saying: “I think President Trump had an individual view of what he was trying to do and just gave up.” The Microsoft CEO has stated that he will not buy TikTok if the opportunity presents itself again.

Instead of Microsoft, Oracle was chosen for the transaction. The company will acquire 12.5% of TikTok Global, a US-based company. The negotiations will also include retailer Walmart, which will have a smaller stake. The deal was put on hold during the presidential election and cooled after the election of Joe Biden, who overturned Trump’s decisions on ByteDance and halted the partnership.