What To Know About TikTok's uncertain Future in the US and the People Who Want to Buy It TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the U.S. for four years now due to concerns about user data potentially being accessed by the Chinese government. Just this past month, the app experienced a temporary outage in the U.S. that left millions of users in suspense before it was quickly restored.
TikTok backtracked to the App Store and Google Play Store in February.
Nonetheless, TikTok’s future endures uncertain, and a number of investors are competing for the opportunity to purchase the app. The platform’s U.S. business could have its valuation rise to a great height to upward of $60 billion, as determined by CFRA Research’s senior vice president, Angelo Zino.
To exactly understand this high-stakes drama, we’ll foremost revisit the timeline of TikTok’s tumultuous dependency with the U.S. government, which resulted in various legal battles and negotiations.
The drama leading started in August 2020, when Trump signed an executive order to ban transactions with parent company ByteDance.
A month later, Trump’s administration sought to strength a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an U.S.-based company. The leading contenders contained Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart. However, an U.S. judge temporarily obstructed Trump’s executive order, allowing TikTok to remain operating while the legal battle unfolded.
Things commenced to breakthrough even more previous year following the transition to the Biden administration. The U.S. House of Representatives, in an overwhelming 360-58 elect, passed the legislation against TikTok. On April 23, 2024, the Senate passed the charge.
Shortly after, President Joe Biden signed the bill wanting TikTok to be sold or banned. In response, TikTok sued the U.S. government, disputing the constitutionality of the ban and arguing the app and its American users were having their First Amendment rights violated. The company has consistently dismissed that it poses a security threat, asserting that its data stored in the U.S. sticks to with all local laws.
On December 27, 2024, Trump disputed the potential ban of TikTok in a court filing, reporting he could discover a way to keep the app in the U.S. This stance was the barren oppositeness to his approach during his leading presidency and presented a surprising turn of events for TikTok.
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court supported the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), commonly referred to as “the TikTok ban.” TikTok made a formal announcement that it would likely have to go dark on January 19.
Although TikTok indeed shut itself down in the U.S. when the act came into effect, it didn’t previous long. The app came back online less than 12 hours later. The platform noted, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.”
On January 20, Trump signed an executive order that rescheduled the TikTok ban for 75 days. This accession provides the app with additive time to either sell a stake in the platform or reach a conformity with Trump. His score is to attain a 50-50 ownership arrangement between ByteDance and an U.S. company.
More recently, in early March, Trump informed reporters that his administration was in talks with four varied groups that are interested in buying the platform, per Reuters.
No definitive deal has been reached though for the sale of the platform, though we could expose out very soon.
Below is a list of the investor groups and companies rumored to be potential buyers of TikTok’s U.S. operations. (Surprisingly, Elon Musk is not in the crowd of them.)
The People’s Bid for TikTok is a consortium regulated by Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt, who is further the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Investment firm Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis are helping to convene the bid. The main mission of The People’s Bid to acquire TikTok is to stress privacy and data control, taking an open source approach.
Supporters contain:
Jesse Tinsley, the CEO and founder of Employer.com, is leading a consortium of American investors. Last month, Tinsley declared a $30 billion all-cash offer to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations.
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Published 3/15/2025