- Legislation threatens to ban TikTok in the US unless ByteDance finds a domestic buyer.
- Potential buyers express interest in acquiring TikTok’s valuable US operations.
- However, the platform’s fate remains uncertain.
Legislation threatens TikTok’s US operations
The US House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan bill that could potentially ban TikTok in the United States unless its parent company, ByteDance, finds a US-based buyer within six months of the bill becoming law.
The legislation, which still needs to pass the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden, has sparked interest from potential buyers looking to acquire the wildly popular social media platform’s US business, estimated to be worth between $35 to $40 billion.
Investors express interest
Several high-profile individuals have publicly expressed their interest in buying TikTok. Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick reportedly discussed the idea of acquiring the platform OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the Sun Valley Conference.
Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced that he is assembling a group of investors to buy TikTok, diverging from his former boss, President Donald Trump, who opposes the bill. Entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary has also stated his willingness to buy the platform or join a syndicate that plans on buying it.
In 2020, Oracle and Walmart attempted to take a stake in TikTok’s US spinoff after former President Trump issued executive orders demanding the company divest its US operations to a US company.
Although TikTok defeated Trump’s order in court, it partnered with Oracle on Project Texas, an initiative that routed American user data to Oracle-owned servers. Neither company has publicly stated whether they would make another offer since the House passed the recent bill.
Despite the interest from potential buyers, the prospect of TikTok being transferred to a US entity remains uncertain. The Chinese government may intervene, and TikTok appears to be gearing up for a legal battle, mobilizing users to call their local representatives to express their opposition to the bill.
Additionally, any tech giant that acquires the platform may face antitrust concerns due to TikTok’s massive user base of over 170 million users in the United States alone.
