Following a conversation with President Donald Trump, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella said in a blog post Sunday that the software giant is “committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury.”
Days after Trump said he would ban the popular video sharing app from operating in the U.S., Microsoft announced it would “move quickly” to pursue talks with TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance. According to reports, the Trump administration was concerned that user data collected by the app was being transferred to and viewed by Chinese government officials.
The Redmond, WA-based firm said that it is looking to complete the discussions by Sept. 15.
An acquisition of TikTok – a mobile, video-focused social-networking service that has more than 500 million users with 80 million active users in the U.S. – will create a new structure wherein Microsoft would own and operate TikTok services in several English-speaking countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. M’soft noted that this “new structure would build on the experience TikTok users currently love, while adding world-class security, privacy, and digital safety protections.”
Microsoft’s blog post also says that the company would ensure that all private data of TikTok’s American users that’s currently stored or backed-up outside the U.S., would be “deleted from servers outside the country after it is transferred”.
It should be noted that Microsoft did not commit to undertaking the potential TikTok purchase entirely on its own, saying that it “may invite other American investors to participate on a minority basis in this purchase.”
Microsoft concluded its post by saying that it appreciates the U.S. Government’s and Trump’s personal involvement as it “continues to develop strong security protections for the country.”
Price Action
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) shares are up more than 8 points, or nearly 4%, at $213 & change on Monday. MSFT closed at $205.01 on Friday.
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