Billionaires are racing to buy TikTok after Chinese owners ordered to sell app, with Steve Mnuchin in lead, per NYP.
A few American finance and tech moguls are preparing multi-billion dollar bids to acquire TikTok following President Joe Biden's signing of an act that will compel its Chinese owners to sell the app.
Leading the group of potential buyers are Steven Mnuchin, the former treasury secretary, who has expressed his interest in purchasing the popular app.
Other potential buyers include former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who reportedly discussed a possible bid with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
There is also speculation that outspoken Pershing Square hedge fund chief Bill Ackman could make a bid. Even "Shark Tank" millionaire Kevin O'Leary has expressed interest in acquiring TikTok.
However, all potential buyers face significant challenges in acquiring TikTok from its Chinese parent company ByteDance and transferring ownership to American hands.
ByteDance has been given a year to divest TikTok or face a complete ban of the app.
Last year, China's Commerce Ministry stated that it would need to approve any divestiture of TikTok from ByteDance and strongly opposed any sale.
As a result, potential buyers are unlikely to gain access to TikTok's highly addictive algorithm, which is responsible for keeping users engaged with the app for extended periods.
This means that a buyer would only acquire the brand name and user base and would need to develop the technology and the team responsible for it from scratch.
Moreover, a potential buyer would need to raise billions of dollars. While the valuation of TikTok is not public, some analysts estimate it to be over $100 billion with the algorithm, although it would be less expensive without it. ByteDance was valued at $220 billion last year, according to Pitchbook data.
