How TikTok's talks with Microsoft morphed into a messy political soap opera

A deal price is unclear, though numbers have ranged from $20 billion to $50 billion depending on what parts of TikTok will be sold

When Microsoft began talking this summer with the popular video app TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, no one had any intentions of pursuing a blockbuster deal.

With tensions swirling between the United States and China, along with the complexities of running a social media company, any large acquisition appeared too treacherous to navigate. So Microsoft discussed taking a small stake in TikTok and becoming one of the app’s minority investors, said four people briefed on the conversations.

Even a small deal would be a win-win, the thinking went.

For Microsoft, a minority investment would potentially bring TikTok over