WEBVTT - Kevin O'Leary Talks Buying TikTok

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>The Supreme Court is hearing arguments about whether it will

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<v Speaker 2>uphold a law banning TikTok in the US if it's

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<v Speaker 2>not sold by its Chinese parent company by January nineteenth.

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<v Speaker 3>I am Romaine Bostic.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm Scarlet Fou and we've been reading analyst notes

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<v Speaker 1>that indicate that the oral arguments suggest to some folks

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<v Speaker 1>that the Supreme Court is likely to accept Congress's ban

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<v Speaker 1>of TikTok, which would takeffect on January nineteenth, one day

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<v Speaker 1>before the inauguration.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it's kind of interesting. I mean, this hearing's

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<v Speaker 2>been going on for a while and we've gotten some

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<v Speaker 2>trips and drabs of information, but we're still waiting for

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<v Speaker 2>kind of a formal announcement from the court about what

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<v Speaker 2>they will or won't do.

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<v Speaker 1>And so far, the Supreme Court justices have signaled that

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<v Speaker 1>they may uphold, of course, this upcoming ban or forced

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<v Speaker 1>to divest the company by the Chinese owner. Byte Dance.

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<v Speaker 1>Frank McCourt leads internet advocacy group Project Liberty, and he

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<v Speaker 1>sent a formal offer to China's Bike Dance in the

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<v Speaker 1>hopes of buying TikTok head of that new law taking effect.

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<v Speaker 4>Take a listen, were the right buyers because we have

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<v Speaker 4>put all the pieces together, We have the funding, we've

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<v Speaker 4>worked through all the legal issues.

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<v Speaker 3>We've put a formal offer, as.

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<v Speaker 4>You point out, right in front of Byte Dance, so

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<v Speaker 4>they have something now to react to, and most importantly,

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<v Speaker 4>we have the clean American tech stack. In order to sell,

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<v Speaker 4>they need to enter into an agreement, which is why

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<v Speaker 4>we put a formal offer in front of them in

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<v Speaker 4>the last twenty four hours.

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<v Speaker 1>Joining us now for more on this effort is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the names backing the project Liberty Bid for TikTok,

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<v Speaker 1>a partner of Frank Lacourt. He is Kevin O'Leary, chairman

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<v Speaker 1>of o'liary Adventures. Kevin, it's good to speak with you.

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<v Speaker 1>As you know, any sale of TikTok would require consent

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<v Speaker 1>from China's Byte Dance. What's the specific argument that your

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<v Speaker 1>group is making to them for why it's in their

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<v Speaker 1>best interest to a divest and b sell to you.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, I give up forty billion dollars worth of value.

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<v Speaker 3>Why is that good for anybody?

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<v Speaker 5>You've got to remember that within Byte Dance are some

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<v Speaker 5>of the world's largest financial institutions as shareholders, including many

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<v Speaker 5>billions worth of American dollars, and so one of the

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<v Speaker 5>options if this plays out the way I listen to

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<v Speaker 5>every word of the hearing, so I'm obviously an interested party,

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<v Speaker 5>and the government made a very clear case that this

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<v Speaker 5>is not about free speech. It will be freer and

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<v Speaker 5>there'll be lots of speaking after we buy it. This

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<v Speaker 5>has everything to do with the spyware aspect of byte Dance,

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<v Speaker 5>and they're not going to tolerate it anymore. Why this

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<v Speaker 5>bipartisan order is going to be upheld, I believe that

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<v Speaker 5>to be the case. When that occurs could be as

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<v Speaker 5>early as next week, could be today, We don't know.

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<v Speaker 5>The company will have a binary decision either to shut

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<v Speaker 5>it down, turn it off, or find a buyer. The

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<v Speaker 5>only syndicate is our offer last night. So we would

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<v Speaker 5>like to engage in a process obviously, and we're willing buyers.

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<v Speaker 3>But the real issue for byte.

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<v Speaker 5>Dance and the Supreme Leader of China is what message

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<v Speaker 5>do you send to the world world's capital pools when

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<v Speaker 5>you're competing to become the largest economy on earth that

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<v Speaker 5>on a whim you would erase thirty forty fifty billion

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<v Speaker 5>dollars worth of value and just take your bicycle and

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<v Speaker 5>go home. I mean, that is a very bad look

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<v Speaker 5>if you're trying to raise capital at the lowest cost.

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<v Speaker 5>So my thinking is that somebody's going to say, wait

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<v Speaker 5>a second, yeah, we should sell it and let it

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<v Speaker 5>go on. And that's what I'm hoping, and so is

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<v Speaker 5>Frank So.

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<v Speaker 1>Kevin, you've been vocal about wanting to buy TikTok for

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<v Speaker 1>a while now, for almost a year, and you've floated

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<v Speaker 1>this twenty billion dollar number without the algorithm purchasing TikTok.

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<v Speaker 1>But without that algorithm, why or how is TikTok worth

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<v Speaker 1>that amount if you don't get the famous for you

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<v Speaker 1>recommendation engine.

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<v Speaker 5>You know, I'm very familiar with this platform and have

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<v Speaker 5>been using it for years through the proxy of all

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<v Speaker 5>the companies I invest in. I have the data every

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<v Speaker 5>Tuesday on cap on every single social media platform. So

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<v Speaker 5>because I don't have the data room yet, I'm just

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<v Speaker 5>going to give you some estimates. There's about seven million

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<v Speaker 5>small businesses products sort of between one and three million

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<v Speaker 5>in sales, five to five hundred employees, represent sixty two

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<v Speaker 5>percent of job creation in America. Most of them are

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<v Speaker 5>on TikTok and they're all my people.

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<v Speaker 3>These are two generations of shark tankers.

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<v Speaker 5>I'm going to guess that ninety five percent of them

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<v Speaker 5>know me and I would like to bring them on

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<v Speaker 5>the journey with me. And I want to use equity

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<v Speaker 5>crowdfunding to do that so they can be my partner

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<v Speaker 5>going at the same deal I'm investing in, and we

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<v Speaker 5>go into this deal together. Now we're going to add

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<v Speaker 5>a lot of features that TikTok doesn't have. And we've

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<v Speaker 5>been talking about this together. And one of the reasons

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<v Speaker 5>that my Cord and Olier got together in the first

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<v Speaker 5>place is we both have things the other doesn't have,

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<v Speaker 5>so it makes sense to merge. But one of the

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<v Speaker 5>things I want to do, and so does Frank, is

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<v Speaker 5>to say, okay, these people are partners if they have

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<v Speaker 5>their personal data on it. Like take me, for example,

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<v Speaker 5>I'm a watch collector. I'm not interested in car ads.

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<v Speaker 5>I don't collect cars. I collect watches. I only want

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<v Speaker 5>to see watch adds, right, and if you're going to

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<v Speaker 5>sell my data, I want a piece of the action.

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<v Speaker 3>We'll do that.

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<v Speaker 5>We'll also make it interoperable. If you're posting. If you're

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<v Speaker 5>President Trump, you're posting on truth Social click here to

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<v Speaker 5>populate TikTok. We we'll open that for him. We'll open

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<v Speaker 5>that for any platform. So that adds a lot of

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<v Speaker 5>value and makes it, what I like to say, whimsically,

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<v Speaker 5>we'll make TikTok wonderful again.

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<v Speaker 1>A shout out to of course your nickname. Frank McCourt

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<v Speaker 1>has said that the group plans to work with Donald

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<v Speaker 1>Trump to close a deal. Have you talked recently with

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<v Speaker 1>presidentlect Trump specifically about TikTok? I asked, because it's not

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<v Speaker 1>totally clear where the President elect stands on this. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean he was for the band and now he's not

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<v Speaker 1>so much for the band.

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<v Speaker 5>Yes, last weekend specifically on this topic, and I'm going

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<v Speaker 5>tomorrow again tomorrow logos specifically for this topic. We intend

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<v Speaker 5>to work on a bipartisan basis with both parties as

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<v Speaker 5>we have to currently. If the order gets turned back

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<v Speaker 5>to the executive that's Biden, he has the right to

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<v Speaker 5>extend it for ninety days and then of course at

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<v Speaker 5>twelve oh five on the January twentieth, we're working for Trump.

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<v Speaker 5>So this, you know, entrepreneurship and TikTok is a bipartisan platform.

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<v Speaker 5>So we're working hard with both administrations right now, keeping

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<v Speaker 5>them in the loop, letting them know everything.

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<v Speaker 3>We're doing, asking to work with them.

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<v Speaker 5>Regardless of what the outcome is, you know, in terms

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<v Speaker 5>of timing of the decision. But we think it's going

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<v Speaker 5>to happen very shortly and probably next week, and we

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<v Speaker 5>will need to be working with the Trump with Trump

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<v Speaker 5>and I also think probably Mike, Mike Waltz, I mean,

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<v Speaker 5>whoever is going to be the oversight on it.

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<v Speaker 3>We're going to work with them.

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<v Speaker 5>Whatever they need, We're going to give them.

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<v Speaker 2>Kevin remain bossic here. I am curious about the idea

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<v Speaker 2>that for some reason they do get a reprieve from

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<v Speaker 2>the court and it does open up opportunity for you

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<v Speaker 2>and Frank to move forward with this here. Do you

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<v Speaker 2>worry at all about kind of the legal morass around this?

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, even if the Supreme Court kids it's clearance,

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<v Speaker 2>there's still sort of an international legal maras that is

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<v Speaker 2>going to hang over this, I would think, and I

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<v Speaker 2>do wonder about how you navigate that in a world

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<v Speaker 2>that is just going to be a lot different, let's

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<v Speaker 2>face it, over the next few years.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, one of the reasons Frank and I got together.

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<v Speaker 5>You may find this strange, is we both have six

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<v Speaker 5>one seven area codes on our cell phone. I know

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<v Speaker 5>that sounds nuts, but that's eighty percent of a deal

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<v Speaker 5>because you got you You're a Boston dude if you

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<v Speaker 5>have a six one seven, a real Boston dude, because

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<v Speaker 5>they don't give that number out anymore. So I knew

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<v Speaker 5>we'd know everybody in each other's teams, and in fact

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<v Speaker 5>we did.

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<v Speaker 3>We love hairball deals.

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<v Speaker 5>We love crazy complicated hairball deals because it's.

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<v Speaker 3>A mote that's you know, I don't know who's going

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<v Speaker 3>to compete with us.

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<v Speaker 5>I really don't know who's got what we have together.

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<v Speaker 3>Bring it, if you got it, bring it.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, Well, then let's get to this idea of the

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<v Speaker 2>idea of what the social media space looks like, Kevin

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<v Speaker 2>and the competition in there. I mean, we're all making

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<v Speaker 2>our choices about where we want to be, how we

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<v Speaker 2>engage here. I've talked with Frank a lot, and I

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<v Speaker 2>know he has a very grand vision for what he

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<v Speaker 2>thinks social media should be. A way to make it

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<v Speaker 2>more informative, maybe even a little kinder, and certainly more

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<v Speaker 2>consistent here. I assume you kind of have the same ethos.

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<v Speaker 5>Yes, I agree with everything in terms of his philosophy

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<v Speaker 5>of opening up and democratizing the data.

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<v Speaker 3>But I want to take it even a step further.

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<v Speaker 5>To me, TikTok is the world's largest television network.

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<v Speaker 3>As soon as Frank.

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<v Speaker 5>And I get done here getting this set up, We're

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<v Speaker 5>going to India, Switzerland, France, Germany, England, Canada. We will

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<v Speaker 5>have this lit up everywhere people believe in democracy and

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<v Speaker 5>freedom of speech, and we will own and be part

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<v Speaker 5>of the largest television network on earth. That is the

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<v Speaker 5>vision that we both share. This is not about the money.

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<v Speaker 5>This is a legacy deal for us. I mean, this

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<v Speaker 5>is a This deal is global, it's huge, it's complicated,

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<v Speaker 5>it's got a million hairballs on it, and.

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<v Speaker 3>It's just perfect for us.

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<v Speaker 2>Kevin, I'm gonna leave it there, Kevin O'Leary, Chairman of

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<v Speaker 2>O'Leary Ventures, as we will wait the Supreme Court's decision

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<v Speaker 2>here and whether to uphold that band on TikTok