Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is forming an investment group to acquire ByteDance’s TikTok as bipartisan legislation passed by Congress threatens TikTok’s continued existence in the United States
The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill on Wednesday that, if signed into law, would force ByteDance to either divest itself of its flagship global app or face an effective ban on TikTok in the United States
“I think this legislation should pass and it should be sold,” Mnuchin, head of Liberty Strategy Capital, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday. “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a team to do it. Buy TikTok.”
There’s something in common between Liberty and Byte Bumping. Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Vision Fund invested in ByteDance in 2018 and is also a limited partner of Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategy.
The bill is now before the Senate, where its future is uncertain, but President Joe Biden has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
“This should be owned by American companies. The Chinese will never let American companies own something like this in China,” Mnuchin said.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have highlighted TikTok’s influence in the U.S. (by their own estimates, 170 million Americans use the app), providing the Chinese government with ready access and influence over the United States.
Major tech investors such as Peter Thiel, Vinod Khosla and Keith Rabois have publicly and privately decried the harmful impact of social media platforms.
However, it is unclear whether the Chinese government will allow ByteDance to sell TikTok to a U.S. buyer. TikTok lobbied hard against the bill, including through a coordinated campaign to its user base and through videos on its platform.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said selling was not an option. The British “Financial Times” stated that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that the two parties’ joint efforts to promote TikTok reflected “gangster logic.” report Thursday.
ByteDance was valued at $220 billion in its last funding round in 2023, according to PitchBook data. While TikTok’s exact valuation is unclear, the U.S. unit may be sold at a lower price.
TikTok’s most valuable asset, and the weapon lawmakers are most worried about, is its algorithm, which tailors content to users. was developed in China. Without the algorithm, any TikTok sales would be significantly less attractive to potential buyers.
Mnuchin did not specify who the other investors in such a deal would be or the potential valuation of the social media site.
There are other interested buyers.wall street journal report On Sunday, former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was courting potential partners for a potential deal.
Last week, Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategy Capital became a major investor, raising $1 billion to stabilize New York Community Bancorp.
Mnuchin served as Treasury secretary under former President Donald Trump.The government also took a hostile stance against TikTok, ultimately leading to ByteDance’s Oracle. Trump has since changed course and publicly opposed the TikTok ban.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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