“Shark Tank” co-star Kevin O’Leary teased plans to buy TikTok on FOX Business Tuesday, noting that he had spoken with former President Donald Trump about a potential acquisition.
O’Leary appeared on “Kudlow” and talked about what his plans would be if he were able to buy the giant social media platform TikTok. The plan depends on whether the Senate passes a bill that would force Beijing-based ByteDance to sell the app for continued use in the United States. (Related: Exclusive: Pentagon pays Chinese Communist Party-linked venture capital firm for tutoring services)
“I would argue that this will be a competition, but it’s not worth 100 billion because China is unlikely to sell the algorithms that provide the data,” O’Leary said. “Here’s the value stack, Larry, it’s very simple. You have a great brand called TikTok. [has] There are 170 million eyeballs and 5 million businesses. These are my Shark Tank members in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. 85% of TikTok’s users know who I am. I think we need a steward to give them a simple message. Once you purchase this asset, we guarantee that you will turn TikTok China into TikTok USA the same day you switch. I will bring in the American team and close the Chinese backdoor. ”
“They’re going to sell it – just the name in the database that’s on an Oracle server, probably in Texas – we have to find out where these servers are – [and] “It’s a brand,” he continued. “They’re not going to sell the algorithm. So what’s it worth? They’ll start bidding at 30 billion. They don’t have the history of the buying behavior of these people, so if they can’t get the algorithm, then what’s it worth? If so, it will be a fire sale.”
O’Leary went on to say that in addition to lowering the deal, he believes it will also require “cooperation” from the White House. The businessman said he has discussed plans with President Trump to advance cooperation with a potential president who is particularly opposed to social media platforms due to foreign influence.
“I’m going to take a different approach. I’m going to bring in a great team to rewrite these algorithms, but the values need to reflect that. But the transition is also going to be similar to what happened on Twitter. Look at it,” O’Leary said. “We started trading $44 billion in debt and equity, now worth 12 to 16. If we mess with the algorithm, we could lose a lot of growth. We could lose a lot of people. , that’s what happened with Twitter. It stopped growing. That’s not going to happen on my watch. So I’ll take a great team with me, but I’ll just be a great banker. It’s not.”
“I actually think this deal is going to require cooperation with the White House, which has been involved so far. So I took a little bit of a leap of faith and made some calls. I don’t know who’s going to win. I’m very lucky. “I spoke to President Trump yesterday about TikTok. I asked him if he wanted support on this deal,” O’Leary added.
“He’s in favor of the sale, right?” Kudrow asked.
“No, listen, he doesn’t know what the Senate is going to do. Nobody knows what the Senate is going to do,” O’Leary said.
“But does he want ByteDance to sell TikTok?” Kudrow asked.
“He would do that, because he already does that. It’s not for me,” O’Leary said. “I’m going to do the same thing for Biden’s team. We need both of these [potential] The White House – I’m bipartisan on this. I don’t know who will win, it’s 50/50. I just want to know, if I bring in capital and management and guarantee that there will be no national security issues, will you cooperate? I guarantee it. And I’ll make that part of the deal. We need the cooperation of the White House, Larry, and we’ve been there before. Maybe we should both start talking. ”
O’Leary expressed interest in purchasing the app in a March 8 interview with Fox News. President Biden has said he intends to sign the bill once it reaches his desk, but President Trump appears to be more concerned about the bill’s chances of becoming law. The former president told Truth Social that his concern with the bill was that it would benefit Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook.
