DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump is hell-bent on saving TikTok, and one solution he and his people are considering is a bid to buy the popular video-sharing app from the Chinese. Bank officials said it was the creation of a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, On the Money reported. I learned.
The deal will involve not only U.S. taxpayer funds, but also major private equity firms, according to a story from the World Economic Forum held at a ski resort in Switzerland.
Bankers definitely want to participate, they say, even though it's a daunting task, as the fees on transactions estimated at more than $20 billion can be quite high.
President Trump's attempt to override the law with an executive order is a bit legally dubious. From what I've heard, it will take at least 75 days for a deal to be finalized, including figuring out what the Chinese side will sell.
The Chinese Communist Party, which controls all Chinese companies, has no intention of abandoning TikTok's crucial algorithm, which allegedly matches users with various other accounts and collects data.
This means the buyer will need additional capital above the acquisition price to build the platform. Several entrepreneurs have already made wild offers to speed up sales, including Kevin O'Leary of “Shark Tank” fame and internet hero “Mr. Johnson.” The Beast, aka Jimmy Donaldson.
But President Trump will likely have to work with Chinese President Xi to make this happen in a way that satisfies everyone. I'm told it's not going to be easy, because let's face it, we're global adversaries.
A Trump administration spokesperson declined to comment.
Trump's dance on TikTok is pretty interesting. He pushed to ban the app in 2020 because its owner, the Chinese company ByteDance, used algorithms that allegedly spied on U.S. users on Beijing's behalf. Because I believed that.
The ban never materialized, but it did under the Biden administration. Then, just before the inauguration, the app briefly went dark.
Trump, the ultimate dealmaker of “The Apprentice'' and “Art of the Deal'' fame, returns. President Trump says he now likes the platform. He believes it helped give him an edge over younger voters during the election.
He gave the app a reprieve on Monday night with another executive order giving the app 75 days to find a solution that meets the Biden Survival Act (passed with bipartisan support).
There are a lot of moving parts. That's why people on Wall Street (and those in Davos with me) are still betting that TikTok might go dark for good after a certain amount of sound and outrage that ultimately means nothing. There is.
All in all, the atmosphere here in Davos, the epicenter of globalism, has been very interesting this year as the jet-setting elite descend on the quaint ski village.
As in 2016, when Donald Trump ran for the first time and won, there is a growing fear and loathing of MAGA among CEOs, bankers, oligarchs, and Middle Eastern money reporters (along with their many armed guards). I don't really feel it.
Globalists expect trade indigestion from tariffs, but nothing existential. They also believe that Trump has a strong leader, a stark contrast to Biden's horribly dismal presidency. They like low taxes and regulations.
They also like the idea of relying on President Trump's plan to lift at least part of TikTok.
