The popular app TikTok could be banned on 19 January under a US federal law that would force the video sharing platform to divest itself from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or shut down its US operations.
Several parties have expressed interest in buying the platform but ByteDance has repeatedly said it does not plan to sell. Experts have also noted the Chinese government is unlikely to approve a sale that includes TikTok’s coveted algorithm.
But until the deadline passes, or until the Supreme Court takes action, the possibility of a purchase is still possible. Here’s what you need to know:
How much is TikTok worth?
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimates TikTok is worth “well north of $100 billion” with the algorithm — and potentially up to $200 billion in a “best case scenario.”
“Without the algorithm it’s $40 billion to $50 billion,” Ives said, adding he does not believe that ByteDance and Beijing would sell TikTok with the algorithm.
Attorneys for TikTok and ByteDance have claimed it’s impossible to divest the platform commercially and technologically. They also say any sale of TikTok without the coveted algorithm — the platform’s secret sauce that Chinese authorities would likely block under any divesture plan — would turn the US version of TikTok into an island disconnected from other global content.
US officials warned that the proprietary algorithm is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect.
Who’s serious about buying TikTok?
Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Frank McCourt and his internet advocacy group recently announced it had submitted a proposal to buy the social media site from ByteDance. Famed Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary has also joined the effort.
The group has not disclosed details of the bid.
If a sale occurs, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers said he would plan to restructure TikTok and give more agency to people “over their digital identities and data” by migrating the platform to an open-source protocol that allows for more transparency.
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has also taken steps to purchase TikTok.
Shortly after Congress passed the ban, Mnuchin told CNBC he had started creating an investor group that would purchase the popular social media company. He offered no details about who may be in the group or about TikTok’s possible valuation.
When Mnuchin was Treasury secretary, he helped the Trump administration broker a deal in 2020 that would have had US corporations Oracle and Walmart take a large stake in TikTok on national security grounds.
Several other names have been floated as possible buyers — Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast), who recently posted on social media about possibly pulling off such a deal, and former Blizzard-Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. Whether these buyers are serious and actively assembling a bid for the company, however, is not clear.
Can Trump intervene?
President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on 20 January recently asked the court to put a pause on the law so he can work out a “political resolution” to the issue during his second term.
If the justices — who heard oral arguments Friday over the law — grant his request, a potential ban on TikTok will be delayed. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision within days.
The Trump transition team has not offered details on how Trump plans to carry out his campaign pledge to “save TikTok.” But spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement in November that he plans to “deliver” on his promise.
After Trump takes office, it would fall on his Justice Department to enforce the law and punish any potential violators. On Wednesday, Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for Attorney General, dodged a question during a Senate hearing on whether she’d uphold a TikTok ban.
