TikTok bidder says his bid is funded, would comply with Supreme Court
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Frank McCourt in 2011. Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Real estate mogul Frank McCourt, who is trying to buy TikTok's U.S. arm, reiterated his investor group's ability to make a deal and still comply with the Supreme Court's ruling on Friday.
Why it matters: Billionaire McCourt says he has the money and the technology to keep TikTok running on American phones.
Zoom in: McCourt appeared on CNBC on Friday after the Supreme Court upheld a U.S. law that requires ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, to either sell the app or shutter it inside the U.S. The ban would go into effect on Jan. 19.
- McCourt pointed out that if the U.S. version is sold, the law says it needs to be disentangled from the Chinese technology that runs it.
- "We, I believe, are the only bidder that meet that criteria," he told CNBC.
- ByteDance has previously indicated that TikTok is not for sale.
By the numbers: McCourt said he has raised the money to buy the business and has presented an offer to ByteDance. He has yet to disclose the size of the offer.
- Analysts have put a range of prices on the U.S. business, from $20 billion to more than $100 billion. ByteDance's overall valuation is estimated to be around $300 billion.
- McCourt on Friday said the U.S. version of TikTok is a small fraction of ByteDance's overall value, asserting it's around 8% of the revenue and less then 8% of the user base.
- He added that any deal would come without ByteDance's existing algorithm that powers the U.S. version.
- "So I think people need to be realistic about what the valuation is," he said.
- "We've done the modeling. We've come up with a number. It's a very big number, presented it to ByteDance. We've raised the funds to buy the platform. And we're ready to do business," he added.
Flashback: McCourt launched Project Liberty years ago as a technology for consumers to own their user data. He said on Friday he's invested more than $500 million into this "clean, American made technology stack" that currently has more than 1.5 million users.
- He added that the reason he launched a TikTok bid in the first place was that Project Liberty has the technology necessary to comply with the U.S. law.
What they're saying: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew posted a video Friday saying the company was working to remain available in the U.S.
What's next: McCourt, who is being joined on his bid by Canadian businessman and TV personality Kevin O'Leary, noted that if the ban goes into effect on Jan. 19, and users migrate, the value of the U.S. version will surely drop.
- O'Leary has presented their case in front of President-elect Trump, who purportedly told the bidders to "keep doing exactly what we're doing," McCourt said. Trump has signaled his desire to keep TikTok going in the U.S.
- "We are in a position to give Trump the solution to keep TikTok lit up," McCourt said. "The Supreme Court has given us a roadmap to keep it lit up. So let's get after it."
Editor's Note: This story has been corrected to make clear that ByteDance says TikTok is not for sale.
