Kevin O’Leary says that he’s still interested in deal for TikTok, but that it’s no longer legally viable, even after Trump extended a ban on the platform.
Kevin O’Leary’s $20B TikTok offer is rejected as ByteDance confirms it won’t sell the key technology behind the app’s success.
In an executive order signed on Monday, Trump instructed the U.S. attorney general to not enforce the ban for 75 days while his administration determines “the appropriate course forward in an orderly way that protects national security while avoiding an abrupt shutdown” of TikTok.
Evan Feigenbaum of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace believes ByteDance and Chinese officials are unlikely to agree to a 50% U.S. ownership for TikTok, given the app's algorithm is an intellectual property regulated by Beijing.
TikTok's influence has been greater than its seemingly short-lived demise. The ByteDance-owned app returns after going dark over the weekend.
President-elect Donald Trump says he “most likely” will give TikTok 90 more days to work out a deal that would allow the popular video-sharing platform to avoid a U.S. ban
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is required to sell the app to a U.S.-based buyer or face a nationwide ban.
ByteDance has repeatedly stated it has no desire to sell TikTok, yet O’Leary has been persistent in his campaign to buy the U.S. arm of the platform — even without the algorithm in place.
Chinese authorities appear to be softening their stance on the fate of TikTok, possibly paving the way for Beijing-based ByteDance to begin talks with American investors, according to people familiar with the matter.
If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that’s probably because it has, at least if you’re measuring via internet time
Three days after ByteDance's TikTok went dark and then was quickly revived in the United States, users who deleted the app were anxiously checking iPhone and Android devices to find it still unavailable to be downloaded again.
Trump said he planned to issue the order to give TikTok’s China-based parent company more time to find an approved buyer before the ban takes full effect.