TikTok says US purchase of app would be 'huge value' to taxpayers
Investors of TikTok's parent company ByteDance valued the app at about $50 billion
TikTok Vice President Michael Beckerman said Wednesday that a U.S. purchase of the social media app would bring a "huge value" to American taxpayers.
President Trump, who signed an executive order banning the app on a nationwide scale beginning Sept. 15 unless its U.S. operations are purchased by an American company, said in an Aug. 5 interview with FOX Business that any company willing to buy the app should compensate the Treasury Department.
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"We probably...have had the fastest growth a company over the last few months. We've added 1,000 [U.S.] employees so far in the last six months alone, and we're adding another 10,000 [U.S.] employees, and so the value to the Treasury and the value to American taxpayers is immense," Beckerman said in an interview on FOX Business' "Cavuto Coast to Coast."
TikTok and Facebook apps on smartphone screen (iStock)
Beckerman added that part of a deal between a U.S. company and TikTok would include "a huge value for American taxpayers under the current tax code and under the current way we're growing and adding value to the economy."
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Some investors of TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, valued the company at about $50 billion in July, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
A number of tech companies, including Oracle and Microsoft, have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring TikTok ahead of the government's Sept. 15 ban.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 423.46 | +0.47 | +0.11% |
| ORCL | ORACLE CORP. | 184.84 | +2.14 | +1.17% |
The president and other U.S. officials have warned that the app could pose a national security threat since all Chinese companies are required to disclose information requests from the CCP under a 2017 national security law.
The U.S. military and Wells Fargo have barred their members and employees from downloading the app, and the Senate passed a bill banning the app on government devices on Aug. 6.
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TikTok maintains that it does not give any information to the Chinese government, and Beckerman said TikTok offers no value to China from an espionage standpoint. He added that "focusing on TikTok is really missing a much broader threat" in terms of apps that pose national security risks to the U.S.
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