Axios

Microsoft on Sunday night announced via a blog post that its takeover offer for TikTok's U.S. operations has been rejected by TikTok's parent company, China's ByteDance.

Next up: Oracle is the only publicly known bidder left for TikTok U.S., which soon faces a White House deadline to either agree to a deal or be banned.

Joe Biden is seeding his advisory boards and transition team with center-left economists and Black and Hispanic leaders as he prepares to confront income inequality and racial disparities exacerbated by the pandemic.

Why it matters: The Democratic nominee is signaling that if he wins in November, his administration may pivot away from the pro-Wall Street sentiment that pervades not just Trump's White House, but also reigned in Bill Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s administrations.

Oracle has leapfrogged Microsoft as the most likely buyer of TikTok's U.S. operations, according to multiple sources familiar with the process. But the situation remains very fluid, including the possibility of no deal at all.

[Update: Several hours after this story was published, Microsoft announced via blog post that its takeover offer has been rejected.]

Key questions: What exactly is for sale, and could President Trump accept a deal in which some of TikTok's core technology remains with Chinese parent company ByteDance?

Universities that brought students back to campus have already seen a rough start to the fall, with more than 50,000 infections across the country. But some have seemingly cracked the code.

The big picture: A number of schools have managed to open up while quelling or even preventing outbreaks, either because they’re effectively testing and tracing or because they’ve got smaller student bodies and more rural locations.

There'll be no Peeps marshmallow candies produced for this Halloween — or Christmas or Valentine's Day either — because of the coronavirus pandemic, Just Born Quality Confections said, per Pennlive.com.

The big picture: The firm suspended production in two Pennsylvania facilities in March as the outbreak spread. Just Born resumed limited output in May, but said it won't make Peeps and other candies until next year to focus on meeting demand for next Easter. "We look forward to offering our fun seasonal shapes and packaging at all major seasons again beginning with Halloween of 2021," the company added.

A bipartisan group of 19 members of Congress on Friday penned a letter to Disney CEO Bob Chapek questioning Disney's cooperation with "security and propaganda authorities" in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) during its filming of the remake of "Mulan."

Driving the news: Earlier this month, Disney revealed that some scenes from its live action remake of the 1998 animated classic were filmed in Xinjiang, where the Chinese government is engaged in a campaign of cultural and demographic genocide against indigenous minorities.

A New York Times investigation found that of more than 900 powerful officials — including executives and prominent positions — only about 20% identify as people of color.

Why it matters: While 40% of Americans identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, multiracial or other, representation of those groups at the highest levels of corporate power is sparse, per the Times.

Startups are competing to use biosynthesis to produce the cannabinoids found in different strains of cannabis.

Why it matters: The market for various types of CBD — a non-psychoactive component in cannabis — for medical and nutraceutical purposes is growing rapidly, and biosynthesis promises a cheaper and more controllable method of production than growing plants.