Categories: Business

Here’s who could buy TikTok as the ban begins

Top line

AI search engine startup Perplexity AI has reportedly submitted a merger offer with TikTok, as other companies and billionaires are rumored or spoken out to buy ByteDance’s popular social media app to bypass an American ban. (UPDATE: TikTok was banned on Sunday—follow live updates here.)

“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary said he invested $20 billion for the app.

ABC via Getty Images

Key facts

Perplexity AI has submitted an offer to ByteDance to merge the company with TikTok and New Capital Partners, in a deal that would allow most of ByteDance’s investors to retain their stakes, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Chinese government officials are considering selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Tesla’s CEO. Elon Musk as China discusses its relationship with President-elect Donald Trump, whose ties with Musk have strengthened in recent months, Bloomberg reported (ByteDance, in response to the Bloomberg report, told Forbes that it “cannot be not expect him to comment on pure fiction).

YouTuber MisterBeastwhose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, wrote on achieve it.” .”

Freedom Projectan internet advocacy group led by billionaire FMcCourt ranksubmitted a proposal – backed by “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary, Guggenheim Titles and others on Jan. 9 to buy TikTok’s U.S.-based assets, saying the group would restructure the company to collect less user data.

O’Leary told Fox he put $20 billion “on the table” for TikTok, saying the Supreme Court backed a law banning the app in the United States so it could be sold to an “American syndicate “.

A former TikTok employee suggested to Forbes that Amazon could potentially purchase the app, as Amazon – the app’s third-largest advertiser – has deepened its relationship with the platform after announcing a partnership allowing users to browse and purchase Amazon products on TikTok.

The video sharing platform Scold offered to buy TikTok in March 2024, saying the company was “ready to join a consortium with other parties” to buy the app, although neither Rumble nor CEO Chris Pavlovski have disclosed details of the deal. ‘offer.

Bobby Kotickformer CEO of Activision Blizzard, expressed interest in purchasing TikTok and proposed the idea to the CEO of OpenAI. Sam Altman and others to help finance the deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, although Kotick has not commented publicly on the offer.

Former Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin told CNBC in March 2024 that he planned to “put together a group” to buy TikTok, later telling Bloomberg in May that he had contacted “many tech companies” to buy the app and recreate its algorithm, which which, according to ByteDance, would not do so. be included in a sale.

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News

A nationwide ban on TikTok went into effect on Sunday, and the platform was taken offline for U.S. users minutes earlier.

What companies have tried to buy TikTok?

Microsoft reportedly offered to buy TikTok from ByteDance in August 2020, and the deal — called by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella “the strangest thing I’ve ever worked on” — almost closed before it was announced. collapse. Oracle And Walmart announced in September 2020 that the companies had reached a deal to acquire TikTok, but that deal fell through after the Biden administration reportedly blocked it from moving forward to address the app’s potential security risks.

How much is TikTok worth?

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, told CBS that the financial services company valued TikTok at around $100 billion, including the algorithm. Ives also suggested that ByteDance could expect $40 billion to $50 billion for the platform’s US operations.

Will Trump end the ban on TikTok?

Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he would “most likely” extend the ban for 90 days after he takes office on Monday, under a provision of the law allowing a temporary halt if ByteDance moves toward a sale. This decision could allow TikTok to temporarily return to the American market. Learn more about Trump’s options here.

Key context

President Joe Biden signed a law in April 2024 that included a nationwide ban on TikTok unless ByteDance sold the app, after lawmakers for years raised concerns about TikTok’s ties to China. Forbes previously reported that TikTok spied on journalists, promoted Chinese propaganda on the app criticizing U.S. politicians, mishandled user data including financial information, social security numbers and personal contacts, and tracked “words”. sensitive”. TikTok and ByteDance have denied any wrongdoing or ties to the Chinese government, saying in a legal filing in May that the proposed ban was “simply impossible: not commercially, not technologically, not legally.”

Forbes Rating

Musk is the richest person on the planet, with an estimated net worth of $428.8 billion. McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has a net worth estimated at $1.4 billion.