Steven Mnuchin forming investor group to buy TikTok

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he’s interested in buying TikTok after the House passed a bill forcing a sale by its Chinese owner.

“It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” Mnuchin told CNBC's "Squawk Box", adding “It should be owned by U.S. businesses, there’s no way that the Chinese would ever let a U.S. company own something like this in China.”

The news comes a day after the House voted 352-65 on a bipartisan measure to force Beijing-based ByteDance to find a U.S. buyer for TikTok within six months, or face a ban on U.S. app stores. The legislation could stall in the Senate.

Mnuchin said on CNBC he thinks the legislation should pass and that TikTok should be sold.

It is unclear if China’s government would allow the company to be sold to a U.S. buyer.

A spokesperson for Mnuchin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for TikTok declined to comment.

ByteDance was valued at $220B as of March 2023, according to PitchBook.

Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs alumnus, has a track record of pursuing major deals involving struggling businesses. Mnuchin led the revival of the failed IndyMac, redubbed OneWest, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Last week, he helped turn around the fortunes of struggling lender New York Community Bancorp in a $1 billion deal. In the past decade he's also been a major Hollywood producer behind films including “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Lego Batman Movie”, which he touted while at Treasury.

Zachary Warmbrodt and Declan Harty contributed to this report.