Not Eric Schmidt. The former Google CEO says he thought about buying the video platform — he doesn’t say when he thought about it — but isn’t thinking about it now.
ALL RIGHT. So the remaining bidders are… Steve Mnuchin?
Someone else?
(crickets)
Yes, if you Google “potential TikTok buyers” you’ll find plenty of stories (Business Insider also wrote one) speculating on names. But almost all of these stories are the same. They cite Mnuchin as well as Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary, who also likes to go on TV and talk about buying TikTok.
And as far as (theoretical) public bidders are concerned, that’s it. Everything you read is an idea at best: Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick attended a conference and told OpenAI’s Sam Altman that he should help him buy TikTok. But since then we have never heard of this.
Other theoretical bidders include Oracle, Walmart and Microsoft, as they already work with TikTok or considered buying it during the Trump administration. For good measure, the articles usually list other big tech companies like Amazon or Apple. But there are no reports that any of the names mentioned in this paragraph are seriously considering making an offer.
And sure, there are certainly plenty of bigcos who have a room full of McKinsey-esque strategy people are gambling on potential deals for TikTok. Because it’s their job to do that. But it’s really striking that there isn’t a single credible buyer who has raised their hand in public or is actually considering a deal.
Which give? I have a few theories. They are not mutually exclusive.
- The reason we don’t hear from a serious bidder is because there is no serious bidder because no one wants to waste time on a deal that could never be closed. Perhaps the US courts will overturn the law forcing ByteDance to divest American TikTok. Perhaps ByteDance will simply refuse to sell even if the law is respected. Perhaps Donald Trump, who (now) says he is against a ban on TikTok, will be elected in the fall and become president in January, when the forced sale or ban is supposed to take place, and will find a way to ignore the law.
- The reason we’re not hearing from a serious bidder is because no one knows what a forced sale of TikTok in the US would actually look like. What would an American bidder buy? ByteDance has already said in its lawsuit challenging the law that even if it wanted to sell, the Chinese government would not allow it to sell crucial parts of TikTok, including its recommendation engine. So what’s left: a brand name and user base that could easily disappear?
- The reason we’re not hearing from a serious bidder is that it’s impossible to imagine a serious bidder – a large tech company with the resources and talent to operate an American TikTok – getting the bid. antitrust approval to buy a giant technology platform. Not in the Biden administration, at least. What if they hope to achieve this under the Trump administration? Well…see above.
- The reason we don’t hear from serious bidders is because serious bidders don’t go on TV to talk about how they’re going to buy TikTok. They do all the work quietly, with a small team, and keep everything up and running until they’re ready to announce it. Which means there is no reason to read a story like this. Fortunately, this one is over.
businessinsider
