It Seems Like a Sale of TikTok May Be within the Offing, but How Much Would It Cost?

TikTok could be value $50 billion, and plenty of companies would possibly not be all that excited about owning it.

Mar. 14 2024, Published 11:16 a.m. ET

Now that a invoice to ban TikTok has passed through one chamber of Congress, many of TikTok's one hundred seventy million US customers are concerned in regards to the possibility that the app may just in reality be banned in the USA. Of direction, this "ban" would possibly not even be necessary. TikTok may just proceed to perform in the United States even if the bill is going into impact, but beneath some lovely specific stipulations.

The invoice's primary worry is the truth that TikTok is owned via the Chinese company ByteDance, so the bill allows for TikTok's persisted operation, but provided that ByteDance sells the company or divests from it. Now that it seems like a sale of TikTok may be necessary, here is what we learn about how much it could in truth cost to buy the thing.

How much does TikTok cost to shop for?

TikTok's ballooning recognition and large US consumer base have naturally pushed the predicted ticket for the company reasonably top. The New York Times has reported that the corporate's valuation sits at more or less $50 billion, and extra that few companies will likely be keen pony up the money for the provider if that's the value hooked up. That's true both for different companies within the tech sector, and for the ones outdoor of it.

Companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft indubitably manage to pay for to be in a position to manage to pay for the platform, but are more likely to shy clear of buying the app with a view to keep away from allegations that they're changing into monopolies. Of course, proudly owning TikTok additionally manner regulating what gets put at the platform, which is enough of a headache for lots of of those platforms already.

On top of the exorbitant price tag, even though, there are also a variety of questions on what exactly it might seem like for ByteDance to disentangle itself from TikTok, and the extra query of whether or not such an acquisition would be approved by way of the Chinese executive.

It's imaginable that Byte Dance may just merely make a selection to spin the corporate off into its personal entity, or that personal fairness may just swoop in to purchase the company. These options appear to be reasonably faraway, regardless that.

The issue is sophisticated politically.

Although many politicians of each events obviously consider that TikTok poses a nationwide safety risk, that doesn't necessarily imply that banning the app is well-liked by the American folks. 31% of folks had been in make stronger of a ban in a contemporary survey, whilst 35% adverse it.

President Biden, who's supportive of a ban, could also be seeking to win reelection partially by way of courting one of the most citizens who're possibly to be on TikTok.

Obviously, then, it is a dangerous transfer politically for him to be publicly supportive of a ban, and yet he's shifting ahead with what he believes is right. The future of TikTok has never been extra unsure than it's now, however it's value acknowledging that the ban isn't a sure thing. It's imaginable that the bill will fail in the Senate, and all the worry will be for not anything.

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