‘Shark Tank’ star Kevin O’Leary wants to buy TikTok—and says he needs Trump’s help

Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame and billionaire Frank McCourt, ex-owner of the Dodgers, are teaming up to save TikTok from a looming U.S. ban. Their coalition, the People’s Bid for TikTok, aims to buy the app’s U.S. operations, promising a platform that prioritizes the privacy of TikTok’s roughly 170 million American users.

“This isn’t just about buying TikTok’s U.S. assets,” O’Leary said in a statement on X on Monday. “It’s about something much bigger: protecting the privacy of 170 million American users. It’s about empowering creators and small businesses. And it’s about building a platform that prioritizes people over algorithms.”

O’Leary insists he can’t do it alone. “Trump will be who we have to work with to close the deal in the months ahead,” he said during a recent appearance on Fox News’ The Story with Martha MacCallum. “So, I wanted to let him know—as well as others in his cabinet—that we’re doing this, and we’re going to need their help.”

TikTok’s future currently hangs by a thread as a January 19 deadline approaches. A 2024 bipartisan law mandates ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent, to sell the platform to a U.S. company before the deadline—the day before Trump’s inauguration—or face a nationwide ban. 

In December, McCourt, the founder of Project Liberty and executive chairman of McCourt Global, unveiled plans to assemble a team to acquire TikTok. Dubbed the “People’s Bid for TikTok,” this consortium is spearheaded by Project Liberty with a mission to empower users by giving them control over their own data. According to the Project Liberty website, McCourt has reportedly secured verbal commitments of up to $20 billion to back the purchase.

But O’Leary and McCourt are not the only ones throwing their hat in the ring. Some have suspected Amazon as one of the potential buyers, especially after the two companies teamed up this year to let users browse and buy Amazon products on TikTok. Oracle and Walmart might also try again to buy TikTok, after their 2020 attempt was stopped by the Biden administration due to security concerns. Whether or not Microsoft reenters the picture remains to be seen, even though CEO Satya Nadella said he was “happy with what I have” when talks initially fell through in 2020.

Just last year, after news of the upcoming ban broke, a number of bids were made. Video-sharing site Rumble offered to buy TikTok in March and said it would join a group of companies looking to acquire it. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also has shown interest, telling CNBC in March that he planned to form a group to make an offer. Whether someone can save TikTok, we will have to wait and see.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91257166/shark-tank-star-kevin-oleary-wants-to-buy-tiktok-and-says-he-needs-trumps-help?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Établi 2mo | 8 janv. 2025, 21:30:08


Connectez-vous pour ajouter un commentaire

Autres messages de ce groupe

Yes, Apple is delaying some AI features. But does it really matter?

Earlier this month, Apple officially announced that it would be postponing the launch of some planned Apple Intelligence features to a later, unspecified date in the future. These features mainly

22 mars 2025, 10:50:06 | Fast company - tech
Suffering from loneliness? These businesses may have a cure

Loneliness isn’t just a lingering by-product of COVID lockdowns—it’s a public health crisis. The impacts of social isolation are said to be as detrimental to human health as

22 mars 2025, 10:50:06 | Fast company - tech
Anthropic is adding web search to its Claude chatbot in a very smart way

Anthropic announced Thursday that it has added web search capability to its Claude chatbot. It’s not a new feature to the AI world—but the company’s approach stands as one of the most thoughtful t

21 mars 2025, 23:20:06 | Fast company - tech
In this horror game, the monster can see you through your webcam

If the thought of being hunted by something that can see your every move makes your skin crawl, you might want to steer clear of Eyes Never Wake.

This viral horror game takes im

21 mars 2025, 21:10:03 | Fast company - tech
Fewer than 500 people are responsible for $3.2 trillion of artificial crypto trading

Market manipulation in the cryptocurrency world is rampant—and fewer than 500 people are responsible for as much as $250 million a year in profits and over $3.2 trillion in artificial trading, acc

21 mars 2025, 18:40:04 | Fast company - tech
Larry Page on the improbable dream that became Waymo

One more reminder about our upcoming online event: On Thursday, March 27, at 1 p.m. ET, my colleague Max Ufberg and I will host “The AI Tools We Love Right Now—and What’s Next,” exclusively for

21 mars 2025, 14:10:03 | Fast company - tech
What the Rippling vs. Deel lawsuit reveals about corporate espionage in tech

It’s a story that sounds almost too outrageous to be true. Deel, a $12 billion company in the HR tech space, is facing serious allegations of corporate espionage, according to a lawsuit filed by i

21 mars 2025, 11:40:10 | Fast company - tech