ByteDance operates a China-only model of the TikTok referred to as Douyin in China (Representational)
As among the harshest Republican critics of TikTok soften their stance on the China-backed social media app, one billionaire donor’s title is ricocheting round Washington.
The prospect that the app will probably be banned has thrust Jeff Yass, the buying and selling mastermind behind market-maker Susquehanna Worldwide Group, into an uncomfortable highlight. That is as a result of he owns a stake in TikTok’s guardian firm, ByteDance, which is value $15 billion, in keeping with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the most important single asset in his $40.8 billion fortune.
Yass has used that wealth to develop into the most important donor within the 2024 election cycle, with $46.4 million spent to this point, principally centered on the problem of college alternative. He is additionally been talked about as a potential candidate for Treasury secretary – together with hedge fund billionaire John Paulson and former US commerce consultant Robert Lighthizer – ought to Donald Trump win in November, in keeping with folks acquainted with the matter.
However with such a big chunk of Yass’ fortune in danger, the registered libertarian’s connections at the moment are being intently watched – specifically whether or not they’ll attempt to muster assist to kill the invoice handed Wednesday by the Home of Representatives to ban the app within the US except ByteDance sells it.
The clearest sign of a reversal got here final week when Trump stated he was against the invoice. That declaration got here after he attended a donor occasion in Palm Seaside, Florida, put collectively by the conservative group Membership for Progress, which counts Yass as one among its greatest backers. (Trump stated he hadn’t mentioned the problem with Yass in a subsequent interview with CNBC.)
Membership for Progress has additionally dispatched former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway to foyer lawmakers to oppose the TikTok ban. In the meantime, Vivek Ramaswamy went from calling the platform “digital fentanyl” to opening a TikTok account himself after an excellent PAC that supported his failed bid for the Republican nomination obtained cash from Yass final yr.
A spokesperson for Yass declined to remark.
The laws, which handed the Home by a vote of 352 to 65, subsequent heads to the Senate, the place the outlook is much less sure. Majority Chief Chuck Schumer has to this point declined to endorse it, and members together with Republican Rand Paul have come out in opposition to it. Some proponents of a ban embrace Republican politicians whom Yass has backed, like Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz.
Powerful Promote
If the invoice turns into legislation, and withstands the anticipated wave of authorized challenges, discovering a purchaser for TikTok may not be really easy.
The most important US know-how corporations, with among the deepest pockets in company America, would seemingly face regulatory scrutiny over a purchase order, although Microsoft Corp. was stated to be exploring an acquisition of TikTok’s US operations in 2020.
Bobby Kotick, the previous chief government officer of Activision Blizzard, has expressed curiosity, the Wall Avenue Journal reported, however he would want to lift extra money via companions. (ByteDance denied its co-founder, billionaire Zhang Yiming, was approached.)
And any divestiture would additionally require approval by the Chinese language authorities, which stated final yr that it will firmly oppose a pressured sale.
In addition to TikTok, Beijing-based ByteDance operates a China-only model of the app referred to as Douyin. ByteDance supplied to purchase again its shares at a valuation of about $268 billion in December.
Yass is way from the one investor with billions driving on ByteDance. Carlyle Group, KKR & Co., SoftBank Group Corp., and Basic Atlantic have all invested, in keeping with information supplier PitchBook.
However Susquehanna was one of many first to again the corporate. SIG China, a enterprise capital agency Yass established in 2005 to position bets on China’s know-how business, invested in 2012 and owns about 15% of the corporate. Artwork Dantchik, co-founder of Susquehanna, is on the ByteDance board.
Again then Yass wasn’t a big donor in elections, giving about $78,000 within the 2012 federal election cycle, in keeping with information compiled by OpenSecrets. That ballooned to $56.2 million within the 2022 midterms, when he was the fourth-largest donor.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
