As Microsoft moves in to buy US operations of TikTok from China’s ByteDance, analysts are questioning how much the video-sharing app is really worth.
Some analysts have valued TikTok at US$50 billion, while other have pegged it closer to US$20 billion. According to the Australian Financial Review, Lex valued TikTok at US$36 billion in May, before ByteDance was under pressure to sell it off in the US.
Daniel Ives, Analyst at Wedbush Securities, told Bloomberg that TikTok’s operations in the US account for as much as 40% of ByteDance’s valuation, which equates to approximately $40 billion.
It is rumoured that the current deal under talks would see Microsoft pay US$50 billion for the app.
On Monday US President Donald Trump told press that the government should get a “substantial portion” of whatever the sale price is. He also reaffirmed that TikTok would be banned in the US from 15th September, whether or not a sale went through.
