What to know about TikTok’s uncertain future in the US and the people who want to buy it

TikTok, owned by the Chinese language firm ByteDance, has been on the heart of controversy within the U.S. for 4 years now resulting from issues about person knowledge probably being accessed by the Chinese language authorities. Simply this previous month, the app skilled a brief outage within the U.S. that left hundreds of thousands of customers in suspense earlier than it was rapidly restored.

TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store final month. 

Nonetheless, TikTok’s future stays unsure, and a lot of buyers are competing for the chance to buy the app. The platform’s U.S. enterprise may have its valuation soar to upward of $60 billion, as estimated by CFRA Analysis’s senior vp, Angelo Zino.

TikTok ban: What’s occurred to this point

To totally perceive this high-stakes drama, we’ll first revisit the timeline of TikTok’s tumultuous relationship with the U.S. authorities, which resulted in numerous authorized battles and negotiations. 

The drama first started in August 2020, when Trump signed an government order to ban transactions with father or mother firm ByteDance. 

A month later, Trump’s administration sought to power a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a U.S.-based firm. The main contenders included Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart. Nevertheless, a U.S. choose briefly blocked Trump’s government order, permitting TikTok to proceed working whereas the authorized battle unfolded. 

Issues started to progress much more final 12 months following the transition to the Biden administration. The U.S. Home of Representatives, in an overwhelming 360-58 vote, handed the laws towards TikTok. On April 23, 2024, the Senate handed the invoice.

Shortly after, President Joe Biden signed the invoice requiring TikTok to be offered or banned. In response, TikTok sued the U.S. government, difficult the constitutionality of the ban and arguing the app and its American customers have been having their First Modification rights violated. The corporate has persistently denied that it poses a safety menace, asserting that its knowledge saved within the U.S. complies with all native legal guidelines.

Trump has a change of coronary heart

On December 27, 2024, Trump opposed the potential ban of TikTok in a court docket submitting, stating he may discover a approach to preserve the app within the U.S. This stance was a stark distinction to his strategy throughout his first presidency and introduced a shocking flip of occasions for TikTok.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Defending People from International Adversary Managed Functions Act (PAFACA), generally known as “the TikTok ban.” TikTok made a proper announcement that it could doubtless need to go darkish on January 19. 

TikTok shuts down … then comes again on-line 

Though TikTok certainly shut itself down within the U.S. when the act got here into impact, it didn’t final lengthy. The app came back online lower than 12 hours later. The platform famous, “Because of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is again within the U.S.”

The place we’re at the moment 

On January 20, Trump signed an government order that postponed the TikTok ban for 75 days. This extension offers the app with extra time to both promote a stake within the platform or attain an settlement with Trump. His objective is to realize a 50-50 possession association between ByteDance and a U.S. firm.

Extra just lately, in early March, Trump informed reporters that his administration was in talks with 4 totally different teams who’re all in favour of shopping for the platform, per Reuters.

No definitive deal has been reached but for the sale of the platform, however we may discover out very quickly.

Under is an inventory of the investor teams and corporations rumored to be potential consumers of TikTok’s U.S. operations. (Surprisingly, Elon Musk just isn’t amongst them.) 

The Individuals’s Bid for TikTok

The People’s Bid for TikTok is a consortium organized by Undertaking Liberty founder Frank McCourt, who can be the previous proprietor of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Funding agency Guggenheim Securities and the regulation agency Kirkland & Ellis are serving to to assemble the bid. The principle mission of The Individuals’s Bid to amass TikTok is to prioritize privateness and knowledge management, taking an open supply strategy.

Supporters concerned embrace:

• Alexis Ohanian: The Reddit co-founder is the most recent tech entrepreneur to hitch The Individuals’s Bid, taking up the function of strategic advisor.

• Kevin O’Leary: A widely known investor and tv persona who beforehand told Fox he was prepared to purchase TikTok for $20 billion. O’Leary joined The Individuals’s Bid on January 6.
• Tim Berners-Lee: The inventor of the World Extensive Net helps the proposal as a result of “customers ought to have a capability to regulate their very own knowledge,” Berners-Lee said in a press release.
• David Clark: A senior analysis scientist on the MIT Pc Science and Synthetic Intelligence Laboratory, Clark has additionally been named a participant.

American Investor Consortium

Jesse Tinsley, the CEO and founding father of Employer.com, is main a consortium of American buyers. Final month, Tinsley introduced a $30 billion all-cash offer to amass TikTok’s U.S. operations.

• David Baszucki: Tinsley informed Bloomberg that the Roblox co-founder and CEO is a participant.
• Nathan McCauley: The co-founder and CEO of crypto platform Anchorage Digital has been confirmed to be collaborating within the consortium, Bloomberg reported.

Different events

• Bobby Kotick: The previous CEO of Activision is reportedly all in favour of shopping for TikTok. Together with his expertise managing a significant gaming firm, his curiosity within the app might be pushed by the potential to combine gaming and social media.
• Steven Mnuchin: The previous U.S. Treasury Secretary who served throughout President Trump’s first time period has reentered discussions in regards to the potential buy of TikTok.
• Oracle: The corporate beforehand made a bid for TikTok again in 2020. In entrance of the White Home final month, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison mentioned to Trump that fifty% possession “seemed like a good deal.” 
• Walmart: The retail big may be eyeing TikTok to boost its attain in e-commerce, particularly contemplating the platform’s affect on shopper procuring habits. Walmart first expressed curiosity again in 2020. 
• Microsoft: The tech big has beforehand shown interest in acquiring TikTok, and Trump talked about that the corporate has just lately reentered the bidding to purchase the app.
• Rumble: The YouTube different announced on X that it needs to amass TikTok and function its cloud know-how companion. 
• Perplexity AI: The AI search engine startup submitted a bid final month, according to CNBC.

The story has been up to date after publication to incorporate new events.