TikTok’s US revenue reportedly hit a whopping $16 billion last 12 months – driving up the potential price tag for interested suitors after the House passed a bill requiring the China-owned app to be sold inside six months or face a complete ban.
The astronomical sales within the US were the very best in company history, The Financial Times reported, citing three sources with knowledge of its funds — and the revenue surge could boost the worth of TikTok’s US operations to as high as $150 billion.
Revenue at TikTok’s Beijing-based parent firm ByteDance jumped 40% to $120 billion in 2023 – most of which was generated in China. By comparison, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta took in $135 billion in revenue last 12 months.
TikTok itself continues to be unprofitable, although ByteDance reportedly recorded $28 billion in net profit last 12 months.
But fears of the Chinese government’s influence over the favored video-sharing app led the House on Wednesday to vote 352-65 in favor of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
As The Post reported, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) faces major pressure to carry a vote on the bill. President Joe Biden has vowed to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
TikTok and its parent ByteDance – as well as the Chinese government – have vowed to fight any try and force a sale of the app. Nevertheless, a brief list of potential US buyers has already emerged.
Ex-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – who served in former President Donald Trump’s cabinet when he attempted to ban TikTok by executive order – said Thursday that he’s putting together a gaggle of investors to purchase the firm.
Here’s what to know in regards to the potential TikTok ban
- House lawmakers voted Wednesday to compel Chinese Communist Party-tied ByteDance to unload TikTok inside six months or face the favored social media app being banned within the US.
- Rep. Mike Gallagher, the Republican chair of the House select China committee, told TikTok to “break up with the Chinese Communist Party or lose access to your American users.”
- The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok, which is utilized by greater than 170 million Americans, or it might be illegal for app stores to supply TikTok or to offer hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act by a 50-0 vote during a markup session.
- In line with the bill, TikTok fans within the US can keep scrolling through their favorite social media app so long as Beijing-based ByteDance gives up on owning it.
- Former White House adviser Steve Bannon jumped on Donald Trump over his opposition to banning TikTok — suggesting his ex-boss’s objections could also be motivated by a billionaire donor who holds a big stake within the Chinese-owned app. Trump argued that banning it might further empower Facebook, which he called an “enemy of the people.”
- What TikTok users, content creators must know as Congress inches closer to banning app in US
Elsewhere, former Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has approached ByteDance’s leadership a few potential acquisition, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The steep price will make it difficult for interested US buyers to scrape together the financing vital to amass TikTok.
“At a Meta multiple, that’s $160 billion dollars,” the tech executive said. “Who’s going to purchase a $160 billion company? That’s hard.”
Some experts have floated large-cap tech and social media firms such as Microsoft, Microsoft, and Google as logical buyers – but US antitrust regulators would surely seek to dam a deal involving corporations of that size.