"Where did this man get $20B in cash from" - Internet reacts as Kevin O'Leary reportedly makes eye-watering offer to buy TikTok

Investor Kevin O'Leary, known for his appearance on Shark Tank, reportedly offered TikTok owners $20 billion in cash to buy the platform. O'Leary revealed the development during his appearance on Fox New's America's Newsroom on Friday, January 17, 2024.

President Biden signed a law last year requiring ByteDance, TikTok's China-based parent company, to divest, or the application would be banned in the U.S. starting January 19 (citing national security concerns). Since then, pundits and netizens have discussed ways to keep the platform, including someone buying it.

"Right now, $20 billion is on the table, cash, cash, $20 billion," Kevin O'Leary stated during his interview.

As news of the investor's offer went viral, netizens were quick to react. One user commented:

"Where did this man get $20B in cash from(?)"

A comment reacting to the news (Image via X/@unusual_whales)

Many debated the soundness of the offer, some even suggesting influencer Mr. Beast was a better owner. Here are some comments seen on X:

"If ByteDance were to sell the app, it would only be the American portion of operations. They would not possess any ownership over the app's algorithm, which China views as intellectual property," one commented.

"This TikTok battle is heating up. Mr. Beast is still, by far, the best person to own and run TikTok. Nobody has mastered the game of social media like he has," another stated.

"This isn't Shark Tank– That's an insane lowball offer for an app with: 170 Million US users with $10B in US revenue lol," a person wrote.

Others quipped that the investor was pretending to be Elon Musk.

"Kevin O'Leary riding this PR wave to pretend to be Elon," a user wrote.

"this is the same guy who genuinely thinks the U.S. should acquire canada... bffr," one noted.

"He wants to be Canadas musk," another reacted.

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"(They would be) subject to $5,000-a-day fine times 170 million" - Kevin O'Leary about potential fines service providers face for hosting TikTok post-ban

In April 2024, President Biden signed the 'Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act' into law. It forbids third-party services like Google Play or the App Store from hosting applications controlled by foreign adversaries like China or Russia. In the case of TikTok, ByteDance didn't divest from the platform, and the app would be banned from the services starting January 19.

In response, TikTok filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to pause the ban. They argued that it violated the First Amendment rights regarding free speech. However, on January 17, SCOTUS upheld the law.

Referencing the decision, Kevin O'Leary, during his Fox News interview, explained that any provider hosting TikTok would be fined. He continued:

"As of midnight on the 19, any service provider… that could be an Apple, that could be an Oracle, it could be a video compression technology company that's being paid as a consulting service, any of them that keep this thing alive is subject to $5,000 a day fine times 170 million."

Kevin O'Leary noted that the fines would amount to more than a billion dollars each day. The investor elaborated that these companies and their leadership would weigh the risk factors (including whether any fines would take effect) involved in continuing to host the social media app. Per the Canadian businessman, they would also be considering potential action from the incoming Trump administration.

Kevin O'Leary also speculated on the national security concerns that have been cited as the reason behind the ban. He explained that he believed the federal government has not been able to confirm if TikTok shared American users' data with China. However, they felt it wasn't worth the risk, and that was why SCOTUS upheld the ban.

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If the law comes into effect, TikTok will be banned starting Sunday, January 19, 2025.