Entrepreneur turns to crowdfunding model despite ByteDance saying video sharing service not for sale
Image: Getty via Future
29 May 2024
While US devotees of the video sharing website TikTok get nervous as to where they will be able to get their fix of shortform video one investor has stepped forward with a plan that puts the fate of the website in the hands of the users. Best known for his appearances on Shark Tank – the US incarnation of Dragons’ Den – entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary has set up a crowdfunding website to buy the U.S. portion of TikTok. The site allows anyone to become an investor, but does not yet accept payments.
“I want to democratise TikTok and make it a platform where user data is protected from the prying eyes of foreign adversaries,” O’Leary said in a video he posted on Instagram.
The announcement follows a decision by US lawmakers to ban TikTok as long as it remains in Chinese hands. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, sued the federal government earlier this month over the ban. TikTok has already said it has no plans to sell the platform.
Leary joins a list of investors who previously indicated they want to buy the video platform. That includes Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of gaming giant Activision.
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