A failed TikTok deal was the “strangest thing I’ve ever worked on”, according to Microsoft CEO.
On Monday, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Nadella said that the company’s near-acquisition of TikTok last year was the “strangest thing I’ve ever worked on”.
TikTok had been ordered by then-United States President Donald Trump to separate its US version from ByteDance due to national security concerns about the collection of American users’ data.
Microsoft started talks on the proposed acquisition last August 2020, but the deal collapsed by September. Reuters reported that Trump’s divestment push ended by the time he left office last January and no potential suitor ending up acquiring TikTok.
Speaking at the Code Conference in Beverly Hills, California, Nadella said that he’s looking forward to bringing Microsoft’s child safety, security, and cloud expertise to TikTok.
“It’s unbelievable,” Nadella said of the experience during an on-stage interview. According to him, TikTok came to Microsoft and they didn’t go to TikTok.
Nadella added that TikTok was “caught in between a lot of things happening across two capitals“.
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“President Trump had a particular point of view of what he was trying to get done there, and then it just dropped off. The [U.S. government] had a particular set of requirements and then it just disappeared,” Nadella said.
According to Nadella, what attracted ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming to Microsoft was the US company’s services related to child safety and content moderation, developed through products included in Xbox video gaming tools and on business social network LinkedIn as well.
Reuters also reported that ByteDance didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Nadella said that he had no idea whether the United States was still pushing for a deal under President Joe Biden. The Biden administration had said that it was reviewing the national security concerns.
“At this point, I’m happy with what I have,” Nadella said.
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