BUSINESS

The TikTok Situation Is Getting Tricky

The Chinese government could possibly end U.S. operations.

Stefon Walters

September 12, 2020

Unless you've been under a rock in the most remote location on earth, you've witnessed at least one TikTok video at this point. Some have been hilarious, some have been creative enough to warrant Oscar nominations, and some are filled with choreography that makes me glad that the hardest dance my generation (damn, I feel old saying that) had to learn was Crank That Soulja Boy.

Regardless of how you feel about the content, there's no question that TikTok is a hit—just take a look at its roughly $50 billion valuation. The problem, however, is that there are some privacy concerns with the Chinese tech giant.

So much so that the orange imbecile in the White House demanded that ByteDance, the app's parent company, sell part or all of the social media app to an American company. As you can imagine, the Chinese government heard this request and essentially responded with: "You got us fucked up."

While American companies like Microsoft, Walmart, and Oracle (yes, Oracle is debating on buying TikTok; weird, weird times we're in) all jumped into discussions to buy TikTok, it's looking real slim for them. The Chinese government said it would prefer to shut off all U.S. operations instead of being strongarmed into selling TikTok.

There are no guarantees either way, but this is definitely something to keep an eye on. Even if you don't give a damn about TikTok by itself, denying its influence is just being naive. Microsoft's valuation jumped nearly $80 billion since it's been rumored that they're the frontrunner to purchase the app.

Paying $50 billion for an app that boosted your valuation by $80 billion isn't such a bad deal—no matter how odd the shotgun marriage seems.

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