Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary has come into the limelight once again intending to purchase the social media app, TikTok. The competition to acquire the app has taken an intriguing turn. When questioned about his willingness to increase his bid, Kevin O'Leary dismissed the speculation outright:
"Well that's just sheer speculation, I mean it depends on what the market is, what the deal looks like. Nobody's been in negotiations yet. At all."
Additionally, according to the celebrity investor, his proposal is "the only registered bid so far."
However, the truth may be more nuanced. The stakes are bigger than ever with ByteDance apparently valuing TikTok at $200 billion and other well-known companies joining the fray.
President Trump has extended the deadline for TikTok’s sale by seventy-five days, pushing back a ban that temporarily took the app offline for its one hundred seventy million U.S. users.
This is the latest twist in a long-running effort—spanning both the Trump and Biden administrations—to get TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operations over national security concerns.
Kevin O'Leary’s claims and the reality of the TikTok acquisition race
While Kevin O'Leary positions himself as the frontrunner with the only registered bid, multiple potential buyers have reportedly thrown their hats into the ring. The competition includes tech giants, billionaires, and even social media celebrities.
Microsoft, Perplexity AI, and former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick (who's reportedly in talks with OpenAI's Sam Altman for financing) have all expressed interest. Even MrBeast aka YouTube's biggest star Jimmy Donaldson, claims he is in discussions with investors following a tweet about his interest.
President Trump has taken an active role in the proceedings. He told Republican politicians in Florida:
"We'll see what happens. We're going to have a lot of people bidding on it,"
He's promised a decision "in the next 90 days or so" and has "spoken to many people about TikTok." Interestingly, Trump dismissed reports about Oracle's potential involvement, stating he "never spoke" to Larry Ellison about the deal.
Despite Trump's denial, Oracle's position in this saga can't be ignored. As TikTok's current trusted data storage provider in the U.S., they have a significant advantage.
Larry Ellison, Oracle's co-founder with a $207 billion fortune and known Trump ally, ranks just behind Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg in wealth. According to NPR sources, Oracle is seeking a stake "in the tens of billions" and has already met with White House officials.
Microsoft, which ByteDance approached in 2020 for what Microsoft's CEO called "the strangest thing," remains a potential investor. Tesla's Elon Musk has caught the eye of Chinese officials as a possible buyer. According to reports, former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is assembling a group of investors to make a bid. The deal structure remains fluid, with Trump floating the idea of 50% U.S. ownership.
The bottom line
ByteDance's $200 billion valuation dwarfs Kevin O'Leary's current offer, casting doubt on his frontrunner claims. The NPR report suggests a possible compromise: ByteDance could maintain a minority stake while a U.S. company like Oracle controls the algorithm, data collection, and software updates. This would "minimize Chinese ownership" while ensuring proper oversight of TikTok's operations.
As Trump said:
"If we can save all that voice and all the jobs, and China won't be involved, we don't want China involved, but we'll see what happens."
With the 75-day extension clock ticking and multiple billionaires circling, TikTok's future remains uncertain.
NPR reports that experts, like Sarah Kreps from the Brookings Institution, doubt whether a new owner can completely remove ByteDance’s control over TikTok’s data and algorithm.
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