Will Trump Donor Save TikTok?

A billionaire from Pennsylvania is trying to save TikTok.

And asking President Donald Trump for help.

A vote in the U.S. House tomorrow could require ByteDance to divest its stake in TikTok USA.

That would force TikTok 1) stop operations, 2) go public in an IPO, or 3) sell TikTok to a U.S. company.

Ultimately, China’s government will have to approve the deal.

Here’s where it gets complicated.

TikTok has been funded by 33 investors.

This includes VC funds from Altimeter and Sequoia. And it also includes investment funds from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Jeff Yass is one of the less well-known investors.

His firm is called Susquehanna. They were the first investor in TikTok – putting up $5 million in 2012.

Fast forward to today and TikTok parent ByteDance is worth $268 billion.

Jeff Yass’ investment is estimated to be worth $33 billion.

TikTok investors don’t want Congress to pass this bill.

That’s because China could simply force TikTok to stop operating in the U.S. This would result in billions in losses for these investors.

Yass is now trying to use his political connections to save TikTok.

Yass is a major Republican donor. During the last election he gave $25 million to GOP candidates.

Yass is threatening to stop donations to any member of Congress who votes in favor of the bill, according to the New York Post.

Maybe this is just a coincidence…

Last week Jeff Yass met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump was previously a vocal critic of TikTok.

In 2020 he signed an Executive Order to ban TikTok.

Yet early this week Trump reversed course…

Trump explained that TikTok posed a “national security risk.” Yet he also cautioned that a TikTok ban would strengthen Facebook.

“Without TikTok, you can make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” Trump explained on CNBC.

Here’s what happens next.

The U.S. House is expected to pass the bill on Wednesday.

The legislation then moved to the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, President Biden says he would sign the bill into law.

Let’s see what happens in Congress this week.

This could result in a TikTok IPO in late 2024.

Ian

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