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Many suitors …President Trump revealed Tuesday that Microsoft (MSFT) is exploring a deal to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, alongside Oracle (ORCL) and other interested parties. Rumors also swirl around Elon Musk’s potential involvement via X, though details remain speculative. The move comes as TikTok works to comply with a U.S. law requiring its separation from China-based parent company ByteDance by March 2025.   Trump extended the compliance deadline by 75 days earlier this month, temporarily restoring TikTok’s service in the U.S. The ban saga began in August 2020, when Trump himself issued an executive order mandating ByteDance divest TikTok’s U.S. assets, citing national security concerns. While President Biden revoked the ban in 2021, he signed subsequent legislation restricting TikTok on government devices and eventually passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell U.S. operations by January 2025. A Supreme Court ruling upheld the law, leading to TikTok’s temporary shutdown (and ensuing user meltdown) on Jan. 18.

Now, TikTok’s survival depends on a U.S.-based buyer meeting regulatory and security demands. In addition to Microsoft and Oracle, privately-held Perplexity is also in the mix, per reports, with each of these seeing value in TikTok’s massive (and highly engaged) user base and corresponding ad revenue. With Musk’s name also in the mix, rumors about the app’s future stateside continue to swirl.   One more thing: Actually, a few things: Today, we’ll get earnings results from Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and Tesla (TSLA). Fed Chair Jerome Powell will also provide remarks following this month’s FOMC meeting, with analysts anticipating a pause on rate cuts.