The potential sale of TikTok could be worth $100 billion without including its algorithm

In light of the possible banning of TikTok in the US and possibly Europe, Chinese company ByteDance, which owns the app, may be forced to sell it to a US company. However, the value of the deal could reach $100 billion, even without taking into account the platform's key algorithm.

Here's What We Know

US President Joe Biden signed legislation to ban TikTok if ByteDance does not sell it to a US company or group of investors by January 2025. Instead of banning the app, the U.S. Department of Justice prefers that ByteDance sell the U.S. portion of TikTok to ensure continued access to the app for U.S. users while meeting security requirements.

ByteDance is fighting to keep TikTok alive by filing a lawsuit calling the law "unconstitutional." A group of TikTok creators have also filed a similar lawsuit. They want the court to block the law, allowing the platform to continue operating in the country. If the court's ruling goes against ByteDance, the company may be forced to sell TikTok to make some profit instead of just shutting it down.

However, even with such a high value deal, TikTok may not include a key element that plays an important role in its success - its algorithm. This algorithm determines which videos are likely to be of interest to users. The Chinese government has allegedly banned ByteDance from including this powerful algorithm in any deal to sell TikTok in the US.

Source: 9to5mac