Microsoft CEO Says Trump’s TikTok Shakedown Was the ‘Strangest Thing I’ve Ever Sort of Worked On’

Remember that point Donald Trump’s administration tried to strong-arm Beijing-based ByteDance into promoting TikTok, its wildly well-liked music app, to a U.S. firm? The CEO of Microsoft does, and he’d choose that you just recollect it as a zany little company journey as a substitute.

Back in August 2020, the Trump administration started placing the screws to TikTok, invoking emergency powers to demand that ByteDance dump a majority stake within the app or else face a ban on distribution (comparable to by way of Google Play or Apple’s App Store) throughout the U.S. in September. The White House justified the matter as a crackdown on the supposed espionage menace posed by a tech firm tied to a nefarious Communist adversary.

Yet it shortly turned clear Trump seen the matter as a quid professional quo with whichever U.S. firm would get a slice of the juicy app, arguing that as a result of the feds had been forcing the deal, the Treasury ought to get a kickback. It actually additionally appeared suspicious the then-president additionally had a grudge towards the app courtesy of TikTok teenagers who reportedly reserved 1000’s of tickets for a Trump rally in Tulsa in June 2020 earlier than not displaying up. The occasion truly obtained a pathetic turnout, humiliating re-election marketing campaign supervisor Brad Parscale, who had claimed 1.2 million attendees had registered. TikTok was ultimately capable of fend off the threatened ban within the courts and prevented any sale, however not earlier than a sequence of potential bidders had lined up, together with Microsoft, which later misplaced to a joint bid from Oracle and Walmart.

On Monday, Satya Nadella spoke on the Code 2021 Conference in Beverly Hills, California, the place he mentioned that he remained baffled by the deal however defended Microsoft’s proposal to accumulate a stake of TikTok. According to the Verge, Nadella known as the de facto extortion try the “strangest thing I’ve ever sort of worked on.”

Nadella admitted that he “was kind of intrigued by it… and then I guess the rest is history.” He additionally insisted that TikTok was the one who needed to associate with Microsoft and never the opposite means round.

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According to CNBC, Nadella continued, “First of all, you’ve got to remember, TikTok came to us, we didn’t go to TikTok. TikTok was caught in between a lot of issues that they were having across two capitals, and they wanted to partner.” TikTok needed a security-focused cloud computing supplier, he added, “But I was pretty intrigued. And let’s say it’s a great property, obviously.”

This is a bit like saying the hostage wanted to be ransomed, but OK.

Nadella continued that Microsoft was effectively turned off of any potential deal by the “particular” perspective of the Trump administration.

“President Trump, I think he had sort of a particular point of view on what he was trying to get done there,” Nadella told the audience. “Then just dropped off. It was interesting. There was a period of time that I felt that the USG had some particular set of requirements, and then they just disappeared.”

In truth, what actually occurred was that Trump went off the rails, backtracked, and claimed he’d rather ban the app than proceed pushing a deal. That busted Microsoft’s bid however opened the door for Oracle, whose higher administration is conveniently stacked with Trump cronies and definitely noticed worth in extorting what had turn out to be one of the vital well-liked social media apps within the nation. It in all probability didn’t assist that Microsoft staff reportedly urged administration to stroll away from a TikTok deal, with an inside Yammer ballot displaying simply 18% assist. Some Microsoft staff mentioned pursuing the enterprise could be unethical, whereas founder Bill Gates told Wired the deal might be a “poison chalice” and “having Trump kill off the only competitor, it’s pretty bizarre.”

The actual bid Oracle and Walmart ended up putting forward didn’t resemble the Trump administration’s initial demands at all, as it would only become a minority stakeholder and “trusted technology provider.” Oracle never really clarified how any of this would resolve the Trump administration’s stated espionage concerns, as opposed to just being a shakedown of ByteDance’s golden calf.

Then the Trump administration effectively seemed to lose curiosity in the entire thing, not actually making good on the ban menace and lengthening the September deadline a number of occasions. Meanwhile, the U.S. authorities suffered a sequence of humiliating losses in court docket that made it clear that if the Commerce Department truly tried to ban TikTok, it could be reversed by a federal decide. Joe Biden later effectively killed the deal (technically, it’s shelved indefinitely). That means neither Oracle nor Walmart ended up getting their piece of mammon, not to mention Microsoft.

According to CNBC, Nadella maintained that Microsoft would have been a good partner for TikTok, as it already owns a handful of other social apps: “You better know something about running social media, which we know with either through Xbox Live or LinkedIn.” But he told attendees he’s “happy with what I have.”

On Monday, TikTok surpassed one billion customers.