Bid to Acquire TikTok
, alongside , proposed a $20 billion cash offer to buy TikTok from its parent company, , in response to a ruling upholding a ban on the app due to national security concerns.
The bid aims to prevent TikTok's shutdown in the , emphasizing the platform's importance to six million American small businesses that rely on it for sales and customer engagement.
Legal and Political Context
The Supreme Court's decision followed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban, citing potential data security risks due to its Chinese ownership. The law garnered bipartisan support.
Despite ByteDance's reluctance to sell, O'Leary and McCourt's group, backed by technologists and academics, including , seeks to acquire TikTok's U.S. assets without its algorithm, aiming to rebuild the platform on American technology.
