Report from Bloomberg
In Brief – Following President Trump’s issuance of an executive order extending by 75 days the deadline for ByteDance to divest ownership of TikTok’s US operations or see the service shut down, a growing array of business leaders, investors, and even social media celebrities, are expressing interest in purchasing the business. Names floated include Oracle’s billionaire CEO and principal owner Larry Ellison, who is a friend of the President, billionaire Frank McCourt leading a group that includes “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary, and one organized by Jesse Tinsley, a tech entrepreneur, leading a group that includes YouTube content creator Jimmy Donaldson (aka MrBeast). President Trump, who has promised to “save” TikTok, said at an event announcing a huge AI investment that included the Oracle CEO, that he was willing to allow Ellison or Elon Musk to buy the platform if the US was given half the company.
Context – There is no clarity regarding the unprecedented TikTok matter. When the Supreme Court soundly rejected the First Amendment-based legal challenges of the company and a group of content creators, the law went into effect January 19th. While the legislation gave the President the authority to extend for 90 days the provisions prohibiting companies, including those with app stores like Apple and Google, from hosting TikTok services, it required the President to certify that the time was needed to wrap up a qualified deal to divest the company. Conservative Republican “China Hawks” such as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board were harshly critical of President Trump’s 75-day extension order that they argue is outside the law. How the US might “own” half the company is also unclear, as engaging in its content moderation might then violate the First Amendment. As is whether Trump means ByteDance would own half and the US would own half, or its all US-owned. Finally, while there were reports that the Chinese Government might be willing to allow Elon Musk to buy the service, it’s not clear he made an offer, or if it was Chinese Government trolling to rile up Musk-inspired partisan divisions.