Former Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Has A Plan To Buy TikTok – But Will The Chinese Company Bite?

Former Trump Administration Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has a plan to buy TikTok.

Due to security concerns, the popular social media platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance faces a U.S. ban. Earlier this month, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly for a bill that would force the sale of TikTok in the U.S. The bill is now waiting for action by the Senate, and President Joe Biden says he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

Two obstacles stand in the way of TikTok being bought by a U.S. company: its $100 billion value and China’s refusal to allow the sale of the company and its algorithm, the backbone of TikTok.

However, Mnuchin claims he can overcome those two issues by offering to purchase TikTok without its export-blocked code. Without the code, TikTok would need to be completely rebuilt and redesigned under his ownership.

Its hefty price still serves as a concern for investors who Mnuchin has approached. The former secretary says he believes it might be sold at a discount if they do not purchase the code.

Investors and observers worry that Mnuchin’s potential version of TikTok may not provide users with the same experience they are familiar with on the original platform. TikTok’s algorithm is known for its ability to cater to specific audience interests, which keeps users on the site. If bought by Mnuchin, TikTok may not succeed as it did before, especially against rivals like Meta and Google and their apps, Instagram and YouTube.

Beyond its code, TikTok hosts hundreds of millions of users globally, including videos, comments and other data.

If Mnuchin and his investors succeed in the acquisition, they will have to scramble to replicate the app’s infrastructure, which has been in development since 2017.

While former President Donald Trump supported banning TikTok while he was in office, he switched his position recently after meeting with a major campaign contributor. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon accused Trump of “selling out to the Chinese.”