U.S. OFFICIALS TO APPROVE TIKTOK & ORACLE DEAL

UPDATE: It is now being reported by CNBC that U.S. officials will approve ByteDance's deal with Oracle to become a "trusted technology provider" with TikTok as early as Tuesday.

The Financial Times reports that Oracle will become a minority shareholder in TikTok's global operations, not exclusive to the U.S. ByteDance will remain the majority shareholder in the new U.S.-based global TikTok operation.

More potential minority shareholders, including Walmart, could join the new TikTok entity.

TikTok and Oracle will become business partners in the United States in a deal that is not an outright sale, CNN has reported, citing inside sources. The news come comes less than 24 hours after Microsoft said it was out of the running.

Oracle will be referred to as TikTok’s “trusted tech partner” in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that his office received the bid proposal over the weekend and said that the Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. would review it this week.

“From our standpoint, we’ll need to make sure that the code is, one, secure, Americans’ data is secure, that the phones are secure and we’ll be looking to have discussions with Oracle over the next few days with our technical teams,” he said.

TikTok parent ByteDance rejected Microsoft's bid to acquire the U.S. operations of the world's hottest app, TikTok. Microsoft confirmed the rejection in a statement on Sunday: "ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests."

Walmart issued a statement late Sunday to say it is continuing “discussions with ByteDance leadership and other interested parties,” suggesting it may become part of the team involved in the deal.

Whether the coveted algorithm—which some believe is the most important piece of the app—is included in any deal remains a question mark. More reports surfaced over the weekend of ByteDance's unwillingness to separate from the algorithm, as well as pressure from China suggesting ByteDance hold onto the U.S. arm, or shut it down completely. It's also unclear what Oracle's "technology partnership" with ByteDance would entail.

President Trump's original expiration date on the separation of ByteDance from TikTok U.S. is six days away (9/20), with the 45-day extension closing in November. Before this weekend, the acquisition saga's latest twist was newly minted TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer quitting three months into the job.