Steven Mnuchin’s effort mirrors past endeavors|International Monetary Fund|CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Former Treasury Secretary and investment banker Steven Mnuchin is assembling a team of investors to buy TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance as a bill progresses through Congress that could ban the social media app in the US.
While Mnuchin’s group, Liberty Strategic Capital, is eager to seal the deal, ByteDance (valued at $220 billion) has not signaled any intention to sell.
The effort mirrors past endeavors, such as a 2020 proposal endorsed by then-President Donald Trump, envisioning Oracle and Walmart forming a US-based consortium to acquire TikTok.
The TikTok ban legislation awaits Senate approval. President Joe Biden is expected to sign it.