Former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is putting together an investor group to try to buy TikTok, he told CNBC on Thursday.
His comment comes just a day after the US House of Representatives passed a bill that would give the short-video app’s Chinese owner ByteDance about six months to divest the US assets or face a ban.
TikTok had called the bill a “ban” and urged senators to listen to their constituents before taking any action.
03:10
Protests at US Congress after House passes bill that could potentially ban TikTok nationwide
Protests at US Congress after House passes bill that could potentially ban TikTok nationwide
TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi said on Wednesday that the company will exercise its legal rights to prevent a ban.
“I think the legislation should pass, and I think it should be sold,” Mnuchin told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday.
“It’s a great business, and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” he said.
“It should be owned by a US business. There’s no way the Chinese would ever let a US company run something like this in China.” He added that the social-media app would be remade in the US with home-grown technology.
Australia won’t follow US on TikTok ban, PM Albanese says
Australia won’t follow US on TikTok ban, PM Albanese says
Mnuchin said that he has spoken to a number of potential investors, but declined to give any specifics. No investor would own more than 10 per cent of TikTok should a sale of the social media company go through, he added. In any deal, existing investors would have the option to roll over under the new ownership.
Mnuchin believes that the Chinese government would back a sale of TikTok as long as there is no technology transfer.
TikTok wasn’t immediately available for comment.