JD Vance is in charge of getting a TikTok deal. Can He Find a Purchaser?
The topic was Mr. McCourt’s $20 billion longshot offer to purchase TikTok, a Chinese-owned video application. Two people familiar with the process say that Mr. Vance’s aide was interested in the details of the bid. It was one of many public overtures made for the app. TikTok has been banned in the United States due to a new federal law which prohibited its distribution in the country, if not sold to a Chinese owner. However, Mr. Trump delayed the enforcement of this law until early April. Trump’s order plunges Mr. Vance in a geopolitical and business negotiation over the fate the app. The app has around 170 million American users. It’s not clear who would be able to buy TikTok on the US market, or if China or ByteDance (the owner of TikTok) would allow such a sale. The Trump administration is also under scrutiny for its decision not to adhere to the law’s deadline of Jan. 19, which was set for a sale, or a ban.
Mr. Vance’s involvement will ensure that Mr. Trump and Vance, who both once supported the banning of TikTok due to national security concerns, have some public accountability in saving it. This is according to analysts and those involved in negotiations. Peter Harrell, former Biden White House official and expert on national security, technology and economic issues, said that involving Mr. Vance in negotiations could lend them more credibility. “Most people, given Trump has been pretty clear he’s tapped Vance for this, will assume that Vance is speaking for the president.”
Mr. Punchbowl News first reported Vance’s involvement with a TikTok agreement. This was later confirmed by a source familiar with the situation. A spokeswoman for Mr. Vance, Taylor Van Kirk, said in a statement that “President Trump and Vice President Vance are committed to preserving free speech and continuing access to TikTok, while ensuring Americans’ data is protected from any kind of security threat.”
TikTok didn’t return a request for comment.
On Thursday, Apple and Google restored TikTok to their U.S. app stores after receiving letters from the Justice Department assuring them that they would not face fines for carrying TikTok in their app stores.
Mr. Vance was a junior venture investor and biotech executive at Mithril Capital for more than five year, including as an early Silicon Valley supporter of President Trump, Peter Thiel. Vance, who invested alongside Mr. Thiel in Rumble, a YouTube rival for conservatives, has also expressed distrust of larger technology companies. Vance, who invested alongside Mr. Thiel in Rumble, a YouTube rival for conservatives, has also expressed distrust of bigger technology companies.
Paul Gallant, a tech policy analyst at TD Cowen, pointed out that a successful TikTok deal would keep one of Google and Meta’s biggest competitors on the market.
“Vance is not a fan of the biggest U.S. internet companies,” he said. Helping TikTok to survive would certainly align with Vance’s personal philosophy about Big Tech. Vance has a big task in front of him to find a deal for TikTok. The aide to Mr. Vance, who contacted Mr. McCourt, wanted to see formal documents explaining his bid to buy the app, without its coveted algorithm. People familiar with the process say that Mr. McCourt sent them last week. The spokeswoman for Mr. Vance did not reply to a request for comment on his office’s engagement with Mr. McCourt.
Jesse Tinsley, the founder of payroll firm Employer.com, has submitted a similar bid to buy the app without the algorithm. In an interview, he revealed that his offer included a consortium of investors, including the chief executive of Roblox video game platform. It was for “more than 30 billion dollars.” He said that his group planned to “recreate or do something similar with their own team.”
Mr. Tinsley has already received commitments from private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds and other investors. He is also “open” to President Trump’s U.S. sovereign fund. But there hasn’t yet been much dialogue. “We have not heard back from TikTok or ByteDance,” Mr. Tinsley said.
