"Will the as-yet-unnamed U.S. buyers of TikTok be paying the full market price? The White House is apparently valuing TikTok's U.S. business at $14 billion, 1.4 times its annual U.S. revenue. That's a shockingly low figure for a thriving tech operation. As Bloomberg News reported, YouTube's parent corporation, Alphabet, is valued at eight times its revenue. Instagram's parent, Meta, is valued at 10 times its revenue. The buzz among investors is that TikTok in the U.S. should be worth about $40 billion, perhaps more."
"How is the Trump administration choosing these lucky buyers? TikTok's U.S. business is not being auctioned to the highest bidder. Trump has casually thrown out the names of people he might invite to make this investment, such as the media moguls Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and Dell's Michael Dell, but he has yet to make public"
Congress ordered TikTok's parent corporation to divest its U.S. operations in 2024 or face a U.S. ban. The Trump administration delayed enforcement but issued an executive order on September 25 to initiate a divestiture plan. The White House apparently values TikTok's U.S. business at $14 billion, 1.4 times annual U.S. revenue, far below investor estimates near $40 billion. A cheaply priced sale could deliver massive immediate windfalls to selected buyers. The transaction is not being auctioned to the highest bidder, and names like Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, Larry Ellison, and Michael Dell have been mentioned. Many important plan details remain undisclosed, raising concerns about concentrating wealth and media power among a loyal few.
Read at The Atlantic
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