"Go dark for even one hour" - Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary shares the "worst thing" that could happen for TikTok

Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary doesn't want TikTok to shut down as it could affect a lot of businesses that rely on the platform.

In a January 19 interview with FOX Business Network news, he shared that he and Frank McCourt Jr. had put up a bid to take over the platform. With their deal, they were offering a new algorithm that would allow the users to have complete control over their data, which was at risk with the Chinese algorithm.

He highlighted how numerous American businesses, including his own, rely heavily on TikTok for marketing strategies. He emphasized that even a one-hour outage on the platform could cause significant disruptions.

"The worst thing that could happen, for everybody involved, is to have it go dark for even one hour," he said.

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Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary comments on the fate of TikTok

In the interview with FOX Business Network news, Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary shared the current status of TikTok and how they could save it from getting removed from the country.

Kevin noted that the recent most important thing about the situation was the opinion letter from Justices that cleared up a few unknowns. He empathized that it was important for the market to learn its content.

"On pages five and six of the opinion, it's very clear that the idea of using the Chinese algorithm going forward, that opportunity is gone. The idea of forking the code as it's called," he continued.

The Shark Tank investor shared that he and American business executive Frank McCourt Jr. had put up a bid to take over the platform.

Kevin noted that they couldn't use that Chinese algorithm even if they had control over the app. To tackle the problem, he shared that Frank had spent years and millions of dollars preparing a tech stack to replace that algorithm.

With the new applied algorithm, users would have control over their data and revenues. Moreover, it would provide interoperability with other social media platforms.

"So Frank has that piece. I have the ear of 6,000,000 plus businesses on TikTok. I do not want this shut off, not for one second," the Shark Tank investor added.

Kevin explained that they would need to work with both the Biden and Trump administrations to address the situation effectively. He further emphasized that both administrations, along with the shareholders, were fully aware of the deal he and Frank were negotiating. All that remained was to sign the LOI, which would grant them a crucial "90-day stay of execution."

The FOX Business Network news anchor noted that, in the end, TikTok's parent company Bytedance had all the control over the decision. She speculated that they might shut down the platform in America just so they could divide the country.

"Yeah, but that was tried in India, 210 million in 2020. And there was a kerfuffle for about four days and then all the users went to other platforms. That's not a good outcome for Bytedance shareholders, and a lot of those shareholders are American institutions," Kevin replied.

Kevin believed that instead of shutting down the platform it would be a wiser decision for Bytedance to split the company among its American shareholders.

The Shark Tank star speculated that American President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping might already be involved in some kind of negotiation regarding the situation.

"We know that Donald Trump's a deal-maker, that's for sure... I know with certainty he does not want to see it shut down. It's impossible. But it's now back to Xi. He's gotta decide if he gonna let this company sell elements of itself, including TikTok USA but not the algorithm, to someone who can buy it and sign that LOI so we get the 90-day stay," he concluded.

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Shark Tank season 16 episodes air every Friday on ABC.