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AI search engine startup Perplexity AI comes as other companies and billionaires are rumored to or have announced acquisitions of ByteDance’s popular social media app to avoid a U.S. ban. It has reportedly made a bid to merge with TikTok. (Update: TikTok says it is “restoring service.” Learn more here.)
“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary said he has put $20 billion into the app.
ABC (via Getty Images)
important facts
Perplexity AI has submitted a proposal to ByteDance to merge the company with TikTok and New Capital Partners, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC, adding that the deal would buy most of ByteDance’s investors. will be able to hold the shares.
Chinese government officials are considering steering TikTok’s U.S. operations to Tesla’s as they discuss steering their relationship with President-elect Donald Trump, who has developed a closer relationship with Musk in recent months, Bloomberg reported. ByteDance told Forbes in response to a Bloomberg report that it is considering a sale to CEO Elon Musk: “We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
YouTuber Mr. Beast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) wrote to X that he would “buy TikTok to avoid getting banned” and later said he was contacted by “so many billionaires” and said, “I’ll see if I can take it back.” He claimed that he said, “I’ll try it.” This is off. ”
Project Liberty, an internet advocacy group run by billionaire Frank McCourt, announced on January 9th that TikTok’s U.S. Submitting a proposal to acquire the base assets, the group said: Reorganize the company to reduce the collection of user data.
O’Leary told Fox he was “betting” $20 billion on TikTok and said the Supreme Court had upheld a law banning the app in the U.S. for sale to “American syndicates.”
Former TikTok employees are deepening their relationship with the platform after Amazon, the app’s third-largest advertiser, announced a partnership that will allow users to browse and buy Amazon products on TikTok. , suggested to Forbes that Amazon might acquire the app.
Video-sharing platform Rumble offered to acquire TikTok in March 2024, saying it was “open to joining a consortium with other parties” to buy the app, but Rumble also announced that CEO Chris Pavlov Ski also did not disclose details of the proposed acquisition.
According to the Wall Street Journal, former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has expressed interest in acquiring TikTok and is working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others to finance the acquisition. Kotick has not publicly commented on the proposal, although he has proposed ideas to help.
Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told CNBC in March 2024 that he planned to “assemble a group” to acquire TikTok, but later told Bloomberg in May that he was planning to buy the app and improve its algorithm. He said he has contacted “a number of high-tech companies” about restructuring. ByteDance said it was not included in the sale.
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news peg
The nationwide ban on TikTok went into effect on Sunday, minutes before the platform was taken offline for users in the United States.
What company tried to acquire TikTok?
Microsoft reportedly offered to acquire TikTok from ByteDance in August 2020, a move that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella called “the strangest thing we’ve ever worked on.” The deal was almost finalized but fell through. Oracle and Walmart announced in September 2020 that the companies had reached an agreement to acquire TikTok, but the deal was halted after the Biden administration reportedly halted progress on the acquisition to address potential security risks to the app. The deal broke down.
How much is TikTok worth?
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told CBS that the financial services firm valued TikTok at about $100 billion, including the algorithm. Ives also indicated that ByteDance could be looking at $40 billion to $50 billion for the platform’s U.S. operations.
Will President Trump stop banning TikTok?
President Trump announced Sunday that he would delay the ban on TikTok when he takes office again on Monday in order to “work out an agreement to protect national security” and transform TikTok into a joint venture that is at least 50% owned by the United States. proposed. He has the power to suspend the law for 90 days if ByteDance moves toward a sale, which could allow TikTok to temporarily return to the U.S. market. Learn more about President Trump’s options here.
Main background
In April 2024, President Joe Biden passed legislation that would ban TikTok nationwide unless ByteDance sells the app, after lawmakers have long expressed concerns about TikTok’s ties to China. Signed. Forbes previously reported that TikTok spies on journalists, promotes Chinese propaganda on the app that criticizes U.S. politicians, mishandles user data such as financial information, Social Security numbers, and personal contacts, and claims that TikTok is “secret”. It reported that it was tracking “terms”. TikTok and ByteDance deny any wrongdoing or any relationship with the Chinese government, calling the ban proposed in a legal filing in May “commercially, technically and legally impossible.” he claimed.
Forbes rating
Musk is the richest person on the planet, with an estimated net worth of $428.8 billion. McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has a net worth valued at $1.4 billion.
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