Can Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary Save TikTok Before The Ban?

Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary is talking about buying TikTok again, as a deadline for the popular app’s status in the United States approaches.

Before we get to Kevin’s TikTok designs, there’s the matter of what precisely is going on with TikTok right now — in spite of TikTok’s utter dominance among social media platforms right now, few have a grasp on the app’s current legal plight.

TikTok’s rise to the top of the app charts was swift, decisive, and unquestionably supercharged by the Covid-19 pandemic, when much of the world found itself abruptly stuck at home and glued to social media.

On the other hand, TikTok was routinely deemed “dangerous” by lawmakers for a slew of reasons, and to make a very long story short, back in April, President Joe Biden signed a bill jeopardizing TikTok’s ability to operate in the United States.

Per The Verge:

“President Joe Biden signed a bill on April 24th that would ban TikTok, the shortform video app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, if the company doesn’t sell the platform off within a year.
“ByteDance [had] nine months from that date to divest itself from the app, with a potential three-month extension if the president is satisfied with its progress.”

Since April, the future of TikTok in the US has been in doubt, along with the futures of innumerable content creators who have pinned their careers on the popular short-form video app, with ByteDance and the United States Department Of Justice (DOJ) battling it out in court for most of 2024.

Ultimately, TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, faced one of two unpleasant choices — sell the app to another party (“divest,”) or accept a ban in the United States.

On December 6, Reuters reported that ByteDance received an unfavorable ruling in a federal appeals court, and that the company planned to escalate its appeal to the Supreme Court:

“A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday [December 6] upheld a law requiring Chinese-based ByteDance to divest its popular short video app TikTok in the United States by early next year or face a ban.
“The decision is a major win for the Justice Department and opponents of the Chinese-owned app and a devastating blow to TikTok parent ByteDance. It significantly raises the prospects of an unprecedented ban in just six weeks on a social media app used by 170 million Americans.”

As for the six-week timeframe cited in that excerpt, the “TikTok ban date” in the United States – the date by which ByteDance would be forced to sell TikTok or face a US ban – is January 19, 2025.

Of course, January 19 is one day prior to the inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump, and the possibility of giving TikTok a three-month extension to comply is consequently in Biden’s hands.

At press time, the Supreme Court was slated to hear oral arguments from both parties on Friday, January 10, as TikTok parent ByteDance sought an injunction to prevent the government from blocking or banning it.

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Kevin O’Leary’s TikTok Involvement

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary and Lori Greiner going out in the hallway to make a deal — Via: ABC

If Kevin O’Leary’s TikTok acquisition plans sound familiar, it’s probably because they’re not new.

Way back in March, CNBC covered Kevin’s early murmurings about buying TikTok:

“Kevin O’Leary is putting together a syndicate for a potential purchase of TikTok, with a starting bid of $20 billion to $30 billion — an up to 90% cut in valuation from the company’s last funding round …
” … Any potential deal would need the blessing of the White House given its national security implications. O’Leary said that he has already discussed the matter with Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump and plans to meet Joe Biden who is seeking a second term.”

Two months later, in May, business executive and philanthropist Frank McCourt – not to be confused with the Irish author of the same name – created the “People’s Bid For TikTok” as part of his internet infrastructure organization, Project Liberty.

On Monday, January 6, Project Liberty announced that Kevin O’Leary was joining the People’s Bid For TikTok, and he was quoted in a press release:

“Joining the People’s Bid for TikTok is an opportunity to take action on an issue I’m deeply passionate about – protecting privacy and creating value for users. TikTok has immense potential—not just as a tool for creators and businesses, but as a cornerstone of a more secure, people-centered digital future.
“Together with Frank, we aim to deliver an American-owned platform that safeguards national security while empowering its 170 million U.S. users to thrive. With the January 19 deadline quickly approaching, I’m confident that our shared vision, paired with President-elect Trump’s business acumen, will lead to a deal that benefits everyone.”

That same day, Kevin appeared on Fox News to discuss TikTok’s future.

During that appearance, he appealed to President-Elect Trump to assist the People’s Bid For TikTok:

“Trump will be who we have to work with to close the deal in the months ahead. So I wanted to let him know, as well as others in his cabinet, that we’re doing this, and we’re going to need their help.”

Broadly, the development was interpreted as Kevin intending to personally purchase TikTok, which is not what anyone is proposing.

As a result of that common notion, there was an uptick in speculation about Kevin O’Leary’s net worth — but as The Wrap reported, TikTok was a bit pricey even for someone with Shark Tank money:

“A deal for TikTok’s American business will not be cheap. Wedbush Managing Director Dan Ives told TheWrap [in December that] a deal for TikTok — which has 170 million monthly users in the U.S. — would cost a record-setting $300 billion.”

In short, Kevin O’Leary’s interest in the sale of TikTok wasn’t new in January, but he did formally begin working with Frank McCourt’s People’s Bid For TikTok at that time — and as it stands, TikTok’s fate seems to hinge on a January 10 Supreme Court hearing, during which the Justices will consider granting an injunction halting the ban or forced sale.