Buyers are starting to raise their hands for what could be one of the biggest — and the most geopolitically tense — sales in recent history.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 360-58 on Saturday in favor of legislation that would essentially ban TikTok in the United States unless its parent company, China’s ByteDance, can find a U.S.-based buyer within nine months of the bill coming into force, with a possible extension of another three months if an agreement is pending.
Although the bill still needs to pass the Senate, President Joe Biden has said he will sign it if it reaches his desk. As the House packages the ban into a broader foreign aid bill, that appears to be a stronger possibility.
The popular social media platform’s U.S. operations are worth between $35 billion and $40 billion, meaning it won’t be easy to find a buyer whose pockets are deep enough.
And with more than 170 million users in the U.S. alone, any tech giant that foots the bill — since companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft might be the only ones with the funds — will likely face challenges. competition problems.
Even if the bill passes, TikTok appears to be bracing for a legal battle. It is already mobilizing users to call their local elected officials to express their opposition.
It is also possible that the Chinese government will intervene.
When Washington lawmakers called for the sale of TikTok in 2020, China’s Commerce Ministry said the government should approve, according to the New York Times. Then-Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin also said that the United States was “resorting to hegemonic measures when it was impossible to succeed in fair competition.”
It is therefore not certain that TikTok will soon be sold off. But that hasn’t stopped a handful of people from publicly expressing interest in purchasing the platform.
Here’s a look at the people and companies that could become the next owner of TikTok.
businessinsider
