‘Shark Tank’ Investor Makes Sizable Offer To Buy TikTok
“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary is offering $20 billion in cash to buy TikTok, a China-owned site that boasts more than 170 million U.S. users. The site, which is currently owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, is currently facing a ban in the United States unless it is sold in the near future.
O’Leary has emerged as a leading contender to purchase TikTok — which boasts more than 170 million U.S. users — in recent weeks. “It not going to get banned. I’m going to buy it. Somebody will buy it. It won’t be Meta and Google. A regulator will stop that. A syndicate will be formed. I’d like to be involved obviously,” the billionaire investor said back in March of last year.
“What I would do is form a bipartisan committee, an advisory committee for 18 months. go to them and say to them, how much will you let me keep of the Chinese?”
A bipartisan bill to ban the social network in the U.S. easily passed in both chambers of Congress last year after lawmakers raised concerns about national security, data mining and a host of additional issues if the Chinese company is allowed to operate in its current form in the United States. Particular concern has been raised due to the platform’s demographics, as it largely appeals to teenagers and young adults.
The legislation gave TikTok nine months to either divest from its Chinese parent company or be removed from U.S.-based app stores and hosting services.
ByteDance appealed the ban before the U.S. Supreme Court, though the court opted to uphold it in a ruling handed down on Friday night. “There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the court said in its opinion. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
The ban is set to take effect on Sunday, though President Biden has stated that he does not intend to enforce it before his term ends a day later. This has seemingly left the decision to President-elect Trump, who previously asked the Supreme Court to rule against a ban in order for the company to be sold.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” on Friday, O’Leary reiterated that he wants to buy TikTok and detailed a sizable offer that is in the works. “Right now, $20 billion’s on the table. Cash,” the Canadian investor said after the Supreme Court upheld the ban.
“There’s a reason that Congress put this order in front of the Supreme Court. There’s a reason they ruled in favor of it. It’s not worth taking the risk,” he continued. “And so the obvious solution is to sell it to an American syndicate as per the order.”
O’Leary noted that the ban could take effect as soon as Sunday, stating that the “clock is ticking” to strike a deal. “As of midnight on the 19th, any service provider — that could be an Apple, that could be an Oracle, it could be a video compression technology company that’s being paid as a consulting service, any of them — to keep this thing alive, it’s subject to [a] $5,000 a day fine times 170 million. That’s over $1 billion a day,” O’Leary explained.
Bloomberg reported last week that X owner Elon Musk is being eyed as a potential buyer by the Chinese government, which will hold final say over any deal. According to the report, the deal would merge TikTok’s U.S. operations with X in order to make Musk’s platform more appealing to advertisers.
Chinese officials have yet to form a consensus on how to proceed, while the sources told Bloombergthat discussions involving Elon Musk and TikTok are in preliminary stages. It is unclear whether ByteDance is aware of the Chinese government’s plans, nor is it clear whether Musk has had any discussions with the company or the Chinese government concerning a plan to buy TikTok.
According to the report, Chinese officials are preparing to navigate potentially difficult negotiations with the Trump Administration over key economic and national security goals. The president-elect has vowed to raise tariffs on Chinese goods in order to close loopholes that exporters use to sell their products at a cheaper price in the United States.
The Chinese government holds a “golden share” in a ByteDance affiliate that gives it influence over the company’s strategy and operations. The company has claimed that the control only applies to the China-based subsidiary Douyin Information Service Co., and has no effect on ByteDance operations outside China.
Chinese regulations on selling access to algorithms like the one that powers TikTok will also need to be approved by China’s communist government, giving them final say.