"Kevin and I, along with the thousands of supporters who have come forward to back The People's Bid, firmly believe we can build a better TikTok," McCourt said.
'ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok's U.S. operations to Microsoft,' the company says. Several reports indicate that Oracle has secured the winning bid.
Chinese-owned TikTok is under pressure from President Donald Trump to sell its U.S. operations or face a ban - but China responded last week by implementing new export rules that could give it power to veto the sale.
'By banning TikTok with no notice or opportunity to be heard (whether before or after the fact), the executive order violates the due process protections of the Fifth Amendment,' the company says.
It's not a done deal. 'These discussions are preliminary and there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed,' the company says.