Walmart, a well-known U.S. retail giant, announced that it would team up with Microsoft in pursuit of getting the TikTok operations in the country, which has an impending ban.

Walmart
(Photo : Reutersconnect)

President Donald Trump issued earlier this month an executive order banning the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok along with WeChat because of the alleged national security threat. TikTok was also given 90 days to sell U.S. assets 

Microsoft has already announced its bid to buy TikTok's operations in the U.S. Then Walmart confirmed that it will team up with Microsoft to make a bid for the U.S. operations of TikTok.

Walmart believed that the video-sharing app would more likely help its operation.

The Chinese app will be banned in the U.S. once it does not sell or gives up its operation to an American firm or company within the 90-day period.

Trump, who is very concerned about the country's national security, alleged that TikTok shares private and personal information to the Chinese Communist Party.

TikTok has already denied the allegation and said it never shared any information with the CCP.

On Thursday, TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer announced his resignation ahead of the impending ban, which is two months from now.   

"We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators," a Walmart spokesperson said as he confirmed that the company was pursuing a deal. 

Microsoft also told BBC News earlier this month that they are now in talks with TikTok. However, they did not give any details about the talks. While Walmart who will team up with Microsoft will now go up against other prospective bidders, including the US tech giant Oracle.

It is estimated that the U.S. operations of TikTok in the country would cost 30 billion. This amount is just justifiable because the social-media app has around 800 million followers around the world and over 100 million of them are from the country. 

With the millions of followers that TikTok has, Walmart and Microsoft will not regret if they will acquire the operations of TikTok in the country. The return of investment could be high and it will also expand the operation of the two companies. 

TikTok was launched in 2018 and at the end of the year, it has attracted millions of followers. Most of them are in their 20's and recently due to the global pandemic the elderly are starting to become viral in TikTok. The app lets its followers create short videos, with the help of an extensive database of songs and a wide range of filters.

Aside from that, Latino dads are also using it as a means of communication with their children. They made videos and share it to make sure that they remained connected with their families. 

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