The Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported that Oracle had won the bidding war, citing people familiar with the deal, although the company did not immediately confirm the matter to AFP.
Microsoft had indicated at the beginning of August that it was interested in acquiring TikTok’s US operations, but said Sunday that bid had been rejected.
“ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft,” the US tech giant said in a statement.
“We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests,” it added.
The Oracle bid would next need approval from the White House and Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a source told the Journal, with both parties under the belief it would meet US data security concerns.
In early August, Trump issued an executive order stating that if a purchase agreement were not reached by September 20, the platform would have to close in the United States.
