US billionaire eyes TikTok takeover, overhaul
Frank McCourt, an American billionaire businessman, is leading efforts to acquire TikTok and fundamentally overhaul its business model, Reuters reported.McCourt, best known for his previous ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers, revealed that he has received verbal funding commitments of $20 billion from a group of investors seeking to resolve the Chinese-owned app's uncertain future in the United States.
McCourt's proposal involves a significant shift in TikTok's revenue strategy. His plan would move the platform away from ad-centric monetisation, allowing users to choose the types of ads and content they see. TikTok's long-term revenue would come from e-commerce and licensing user-confirmed data for artificial intelligence training models.
"When you give permission for your data to be used and you receive compensation, it's flipping this 180 degrees and giving the user the power," McCourt told me.
The initiative would also migrate TikTok's technology to an open-source protocol created by McCourt's organisation, Project Liberty. This would give users more control over their data and allow them to seamlessly transfer it across the internet.
The bid comes as TikTok awaits a Supreme Court decision on a law signed by President Joe Biden that could force the company's U.S. operations to be sold over national security concerns. If upheld, the app may face a ban in the United States by January 19, unless ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, complies.
McCourt's acquisition strategy excludes TikTok's powerful content recommendation algorithm, avoiding potential issues with ByteDance and Chinese export-control regulations, which require administrative approval for such technology transfers.
Despite TikTok's insistence that it cannot separate from ByteDance, McCourt believes a Supreme Court decision against the app could lead to negotiations.
McCourt and his team are said to have held preliminary discussions with members of President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration. Trump, who tried to ban TikTok in 2020, has recently softened his stance, saying he has "a warm spot in my heart for TikTok."
The acquisition team is also looking for a CEO for a reimagined TikTok. According to sources, V. Pappas, TikTok's former chief operating officer, was approached, but McCourt declined to name specific candidates.
"This is both a big project to scale the technology that we've built and a vision for a better internet," McCourt told reporters. "We're talking to people who share that vision and have the capacity and skills to do both."
McCourt's bid for TikTok is about more than just resolving the company's immediate legal issues; it is also about putting into action his larger vision for a decentralised and user-centric internet. While significant challenges remain, his proposal represents a bold vision for the platform's future as it navigates geopolitical and regulatory pressures.
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