A day after the U. S. House of Representatives took a first step by banning TikTok unless it discovered a new owner, a potential customer entered the picture.
Former Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said Thursday that he is forming an organization of investors who would try to buy the Chinese-owned app.
He told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” “It will be owned by U. S. companies. There’s no way the Chinese would allow a U. S. company to own something like this in China. “
On Wednesday, the House voted overwhelmingly (352-65) to force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the video app. Under the bill, if ByteDance refused to sell, TikTok would be banned from offered app outlets, for example. , through Apple and Google in the United States.
Lawmakers in favor of the bill are concerned that TikTok could pose a national security risk. They worry that the Chinese government will force ByteDance to hand over knowledge that would compromise U. S. users. TikTok has said it has shared U. S. know-how with the Chinese government. And I never will.
There is still a lot of work to be done before the U. S. bill goes into effect. The Senate is expected to pass the bill, and there is no indication at this time that it will introduce it. President Joe Biden would then have to sign it. And that’s assuming there are no court challenges, which is for sure.
The main points of Mnuchin’s plan are still a bit unclear. He says he spoke to a “group of people” about buying TikTok, but he’s no more explicit than that. The amount to be paid, if it were ever presented to the company for sale, is not even known at this time. CNBC reported that ByteDance is valued at $220 billion in its most recent investment circular in 2023, according to PitchBook’s knowledge. But if only TikTok’s U. S. department were to sell, the value would be clearly below $220 billion. David McCabe of the New York Times reported that the value could exceed $50 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend: “America’s tech and media titans are already going around in circles. In recent days, some executives have talked about buying TikTok if ByteDance sells it. Bobby Kotick, former chief executive of video game publisher Activision, has expressed interest in ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming, according to a user familiar with the matter. It is estimated to be worth billions of dollars. “
And now, let’s move on to the news, information, and media links for your recap of the weekend. . .
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