Multiple TikTok bids are on the table

With a deadline of Saturday (April 5) for TikTok to alter its ownership structure or face a US ban, the app is finding itself like the inside of a dog toy—the bell(e) of the ball.

Over the past few days:

• A startup run by OnlyFans’ founder Tim Stokely partnered with a cryptocurrency foundation to submit a bid.
• Ad-tech firm AppLovin reportedly submitted an offer.
• Amazon—which has long harbored ambitions for an in-house social media network that could help it sell more goods and appeal to a younger audience—also submitted a bid, though it reportedly isn’t being taken seriously.

Other potential outcomes include: A deal that would involve a number of new US investors, including tech giant Oracle, PE firm Blackstone, and VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, buying out Chinese ones. Frank McCourt, former owner of the LA Dodgers, pulled together a group of investors and submitted a bid in December (Project Liberty). YouTuber MrBeast said in January that he had met with several billionaires and had “an offer ready” to buy TikTok.

Big picture: Any deal—which still has to be approved by China—would involve spinning off a US entity for TikTok and diluting Chinese ownership in the new business to below a 20% threshold required by US law, Reuters reports.

Should an agreement not be reached before the deadline…“it’s not a big deal,” President Trump said. “We’ll just extend it.”