TikTok ban looms: What is it worth, and who could end up buying it?
NEW YORK (AP) — The supremely popular TikTok could be banned on Jan. 19 under a federal law that forces the video sharing platform to divest itself from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or shut down its U.S. operations.
Several parties have expressed interest in buying the platform, but ByteDance has repeatedly said it does not plan to sell. Experts have also noted the Chinese government is unlikely to approve a sale that includes TikTok's coveted algorithm.
But until the deadline passes, or until the Supreme Court takes action, the possibility of a purchase is still possible. Here's what you need to know:
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives estimates TikTok is worth “well north of $100 billion” with the algorithm — and potentially up to $200 billion in a “best case scenario.”
“Without the algorithm it's $40 billion to $50 billion,” Ives said, adding he does not believe that ByteDance and Beijing would sell TikTok with the algorithm.
Attorneys for the TikTok and ByteDance have claimed it's impossible to divest the platform commercially and technologically. They also say any sale of TikTok without the coveted algorithm — the platform's secret sauce that Chinese authorities would likely block under any divesture plan — would turn the U.S. version of TikTok into an island disconnected from other global content.
U.S. officials warned that the proprietary algorithm is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that's difficult to detect.
Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Frank McCourt and his internet advocacy group recently announced it had submitted a proposal to buy the social media site from ByteDance. Famed Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary has also joined the effort.
The group has not disclosed details of the bid.
If a sale occurs, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers said he would plan to restructure TikTok and give more agency to people “over their digital identities and data” by migrating
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