TikTok for Sale and Kevin O’Leary Want to Buy It
A bid of $20 billion to $30 billion has been placed by famous Canadian businessman, Kevin O’Leary, for a potential purchase of TikTok China.
According to PitchBook data, the short video-sharing platform was appraised at $220 billion in 2023. The head of O’Leary Ventures, speaking on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia,” suggested that any potential agreement regarding the platform would likely exclude the algorithms reliant on user preferences, which have been pivotal to its achievements.
“It’s the largest entertainment and business network in America as it stands today, so it’s of great interest and great value,” O’Leary mentioned on Friday.
It isn’t likely that the Chinese government would be willing to sell the algorithms, “so what you’re getting is the valuable domestic brand TikTok and 170 million users, with no data,” O’Leary stated.
A potential buyer of the application will have to “re-emulate” algorithms according to the ones with the U.S. code and carry out as a “steward” and rebirth the application from “TikTok China to TikTok U.S.A.” As a result, the decrease in valuation.
During the first week of March, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for a bill in favor of banning TikTok-owner ByteDance in the United States. It would take several months before the legislation takes a final decision in the Senate.
O’Leary stated that there is currently a 50% chance of a ban and even a forced sale of the most popular social media application, TikTok. He continued to mention that it will all unfold next year after the US elections. O’Leary said that he has had discussions with Donald Trump and has plans to meet with Joe Biden. To him, potential deals would need the White House blessings.
The O’Leary Ventures Chairman stated that he was in discussions with multiple parties interested in joining the buyout syndicate, and that a return on investment for the application would begin in April. On another note, interest in the purchase of TikTok all over the US is being portrayed specifically by former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin.
“This is the most complex deal ever in social media, and I have to build a new algorithm,” O’Leary mentioned. “It’s a very interesting deal, and I like it.”
The news is out, but TikTok China hasn’t made an official announcement regarding what is being said.
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