Alphabet reportedly wanted to buy a small stake in TikTok as part of a mystery group bid, but the talks fell apart

• Google parent Alphabet reportedly considered taking a stake in TikTok as part of a group bid.
• However, those discussions have since fallen apart, reports Bloomberg. It's not clear who else was part of the group.
• Are you a Google insider with more to share? Contact this reporter using encrypted email (hslangley@protonmail.com) or encrypted messaging apps Signal/Telegram (628-228-1836).

Google parent Alphabet reportedly considered taking a stake in TikTok as part of a group bid, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

The report says Alphabet weighed a minority, non-voting stake through one of its investment arms, which would be GV or CapitalG, both of which live separately from Google but under the Alphabet umbrella.

Those discussions "fizzled out" however, according to Bloomberg's sources, with talks stopping in recent days.

Alphabet reportedly didn't lead the efforts, and the report doesn't identify who did nor who else was part of the group. But a source told Bloomberg that Alphabet had not ruled out participating in future bids.

Considering TikTok is a direct rival to Alphabet's YouTube platform there's a good reason the company would be interested.

The clock is ticking for TikTok to find a new home for its US operations. Just a week ago, President Trump set a deadline of 90 days for Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest its US operations.

Microsoft was the first major company named to be in talks to buy TikTok, while Oracle and Twitter have also been named as interested bidders.

An Alphabet spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.