View: Remember TikTok? Send an indulgence to deal gods

NEW YORK: Remember TikTok? The short-form video platform is stuck in M&A purgatory. And the U.S. presidential election is creating more than just brain haze. With U.S. President Donald Trump driving much of the deal back-and-forth, getting some clarity on this transaction may require sending indulgences to the M&A gods.

Keeping tabs on the many arrows slung at TikTok requires some religious dedication to deal drama. It started back in August, after the popular social media network came under fire by President Trump’s administration because it is owned by China’s ByteDance. He and others in Washington considered it a national security threat.