O'Leary Ventures President Kevin O'Leary and Gristedes CEO John Catsimatidis join “Morning with Maria” to discuss the latest news on the US ban on TikTok and how Trump's executive orders could affect the economy do
TikTok's fate could be up for grabs thanks to a “confidential” arrangement that would give the Chinese government leverage over any potential deal involving the platform, Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary told FOX Business on Monday.
“There's something called a secret golden share that every Chinese company has to issue to the CCP leadership. It's Xi (Jin Ping) himself, and it turns out that ByteDance can't negotiate anything until he makes a decision,” O'Leary said. Ventures boss said “Morning with Maria” Guest Host Cheryl Cazon.
“The secret share is the veto power over other shareholders,” he explained. “They don't have any rights after the secret share is issued, so now we're dealing with these shares, because until he decides what's going to happen, it doesn't matter what the shareholders or the CEO think. Or whoever,” he said. From management, it is irrelevant, it is the secret golden share that now determines the fate of TikTok.
Kevin O'Leary, president of O'Leary Ventures, discussed the uncertain future of TikTok during an appearance on “Mornings with Maria” on Monday. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
as The New York Times explainedIn this arrangement, “the Chinese government buys a small portion of a company's stock in exchange for a seat on the board and a veto over company decisions.”
O'Leary, later in “Varney & Co.” He said the news may come as a surprise to other investors involved with Chinese companies.
“They're all classified as gold stocks, and I think if you're listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ or any other exchange, that's a violation of some of the U.S. securities laws,” he said.
Rumors today, here in Washington, are that Lindsey (Graham) will soon introduce a bill on this, because we're learning a lot through this TikTok situation. There is no agreement yet. The deal is now in Trump's hands and unfortunately the 90-day extension option is not in the law allowed by the 9-0 Supreme Court ruling, so…our hands are tied as buyers and we have to stick to the law, unless President Trump can change that.
However, TikTok has countered that “a Chinese state-owned entity owns 1% of a ByteDance subsidiary, Douyin Information Service,” and that the holding has “no impact on ByteDance's global operations outside of China, including TikTok.” does not have According to Reuters.
Popular short video platform It went dark for millions of users across the United States late Saturday after the Supreme Court, citing national security concerns, upheld bipartisan legislation signed by President Biden last spring that would have required the app's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to It had to sell the platform or face a US ban.
While it briefly went dark, the app offered shoutouts to Trump, who previously said he would likely give TikTok a 90-day extension from Sunday's deadline after taking office.
TikTok notified users on Saturday that it was no longer available in the US due to the ban, while announcing that President-elect Trump was working on a solution. (TikTok / Fox News)
The program returned hours later, but its future is in doubt.
Just minutes after the Supreme Court ruling, O'Leary tabled a $20 billion cash offer for the program, arguing that a sale to an American syndicate was the “obvious solution.”
He told Kazun that he had no negotiations with ByteDance thanks to the “golden share”.
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Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary talks about the future of TikTok, the Chinese government's role with the “hidden golden bullion” and the role Trump can play in keeping the platform in the US.
Alexandra Koch, Bradford Betts and Landon Mayon of Reuters and FOX Business contributed to this report.