Amidst talks of a potential TikTok ban, Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” fame expressed interest in purchasing the Chinese-owned app on Thursday.
What happened: O’Leary revealed that several groups are forming to bid for TikTok, and he’s among those interested. He emphasized his recognizable brand and vision to transition TikTok into an American-owned platform.
“And you have to be a steward to change it from TikTok China to TikTok USA,” he said.
However, O’Leary acknowledged a potential obstacle: the Chinese government’s reluctance to relinquish TikTok’s algorithm, a vital asset for the platform’s operation and value. “But the algorithm is where you serve up the videos, you know, the preferences and the purchase behavior for the last few years is very valuable,” he added.
If the Chinese government does not allow the passing on of the algorithm, what a potential U.S. buyer would get is the brand TikTok domestically, which is valuable, and 170 million users but no data, O’Leary said. “I think, really, there’ll be no algorithms. You have to rewrite the algorithm. That’s complicated.” he added.
O’Leary pointed to Twitter, which was bought by Elon Musk for $44 billion and has since then been renamed X. While the deal was done at a $44 billion valuation 18 months ago, today it is worth $12 billion to $16 billion, with two-thirds of the valuation vaporizing after tweaking the algorithm, he said.
His bidding for TikTok will ...