Latest news with #Rasner
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
TikTok bidder: South Dakota ‘certainly the front-runner'
MADISON, S.D. (KELO/AP) — Wyoming entrepreneur Reid Rasner, who has made a $47.45 billion bid to buy the social media app TikTok, was in Madison, S.D. at Dakota State University Friday alongside South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden. 'I think what you guys are advancing right here at Dakota State is a perfect match for what we're looking for, and your research will prove to be very essential to us and our plans moving forward,' Rasner said. 'I was of the opinion that it would be absolutely poetic for an American-owned TikTok to wind up in South Dakota, whether that would be in part or the whole thing,' Rhoden said. Police present at protest outside SF Penitentiary TikTok's parent company ByteDance is based out of China. Amid national security concerns, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law saying ByteDance must sell the social media app. President Donald Trump, however, has delayed an outright ban. 'Assuming they sell by the June 19th deadline, we would begin opening up discussions with Governor Rhoden further and implementing our public/private partnerships right here with Dakota State,' Rasner said. Rasner was full of praise for Rhoden as he looked ahead to TikTok's possible future. 'He has partnered with us in a very strong and vocal way,' Rasner said. 'We appreciate that. We love South Dakota, and we find that this is going to be a very great home for TikTok in the future and have a very special place with TikTok in the future, so it'll have a very strong footprint here.' And if Rasner's bid is successful, he says South Dakota is more than just a candidate for where TikTok might have a footprint. 'They're certainly the front-runner for our infrastructure right now, 100%,' Rasner said. How much of TikTok's infrastructure might be located in the state is unclear. Rasner unsuccessfully ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Wyoming as a Republican in 2024. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Potential buyer talks about moving Tik Tok to South Dakota
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — When South Dakota's Governor says he supports bringing the Tik Tok headquarters to South Dakota, it's bound to get some attention. Tik Tok is one of the world's most popular social media platforms. It allows users to share and create videos. An estimated 150 million American downloaded the app on their devices. But Tik Tok has a problem in the eyes of the American government, it is owned by a Chinese company. Lawmakers, like South Dakota's John Thune have long alleged that Tik Tok could be used to collect information or spy on Americans. 'The parent company of TikTok is a company called ByteDance, and they are a wholly owned subsidiary of the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party,' Thune told us in February. 'Which any company in that country operating, if the government asks them for information they have to turn over.' Thune asks for patience as event draws demonstrators So why would South Dakota want Tik Tok to relocate here? The whole idea revolves around a Wyoming businessman by the name of Reid gained attention when he challenged U.S. Senator John Barrasso in Wyoming's republican primary last year. He lost. But Rasner's name surfaced again when he announced he had put together a bid to buy Tik Tok and sever the Chinese connection. South Dakota Governor Rhoden says the Rasner group contacted him for a meeting to discuss the location of the headquarters in the event their bid is accepted. Rhoden says the state will explore bringing the company to South Dakota. However, it appears Rasner also has designs for his home state of Wyoming. On February 20th Rasner told the Cowboy State Daily, an all digital news outlet covering news in Wyoming, 'We're going to bring TikTok's headquarters to Wyoming. We're going to tap our energy and create thousands of high-paying jobs.' A split Supreme Court finds partially for a hurt worker In a post yesterday, the Rasner Media website says 'While no final decision has been made on operational locations, Rasner Media has committed to ensuring South Dakota remains a key partner in its mission to protect American digital platforms, create high-tech jobs, and chart a secure future for TikTok.' The Wyoming businessman has to outbid some of the largest and most powerful companies in the U.S. who have also expressed an interest in purchasing Tik Tok. They include Blackstone, the world largest investment firm, Computer Giant Oracle, and Amazon to name a few. And that's of the Chinese company is willing to be sold. A spokesperson for ByteDance confirmed in a statement that the company has been discussing a 'potential solution' with the U.S. government but noted that an 'agreement has not been executed.' TikTok, currently has headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
NBC News
06-03-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Wyoming billionaire Reid Rasner says his team has been in touch with White House over TikTok bid
Wyoming entrepreneur Reid Rasner, the latest U.S.-based suitor vying to purchase TikTok from its China-based parent company, said the Trump administration has reviewed his bid for the platform and he is 'prepared to move forward' with the offer. 'They know it, and I think they're taking it very seriously from what it sounds like,' Rasner, CEO of wealth management company Omnivest Financial, told NBC News on Thursday. 'There's no holding back. The money isn't the issue right now, bringing all the pieces together is the issue.' Rasner declined to share specifics about his communications with the White House, but said the administration has provided key feedback on the offer presented to ByteDance, TikTok's parent company. He said his team has implemented the administration's recommended adjustments to 'ensure the deal aligns with national security and economic interests.' A spokesperson for Vice President JD Vance, who in February was tapped by President Donald Trump to broker a potential sale of TikTok to a U.S.-based entity, declined to comment. TikTok's fate in the U.S. has been up in the air since last year, following the passage of a bipartisan law signed by former President Joe Biden. The legislation forces ByteDance to sell the app to a non-Chinese buyer or face a nationwide ban. While TikTok had challenged the measure, the Supreme Court upheld it in the final days of the Biden administration. The app briefly went dark in the U.S. on Jan. 18, the day before Trump's inauguration. It restored service roughly 12 hours later, after Trump signaled he would review the ban. The president signed an executive order on his first day in office 'instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days,' effectively giving TikTok until April to find a U.S. buyer. In recent months, rumors have continued to swirl about potential buyers for the app, which has millions of users and has been valued at up to $50 billion. Rasner's offer came close to that sum at $47.45 billion. Trump recently floated the idea of a joint venture that produces a 50-50 ownership split between the U.S. and ByteDance, but the details of that proposal are unclear. He told reporters Thursday that if a deal to buy TikTok isn't complete by the time his extension ends in April, he would "probably" extend the delay of the ban again. "We have a lot of interest in TikTok," Trump said. "China is going to play a role, so hopefully China will approve of the deal." Representatives for ByteDance and TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Rasner's bid. The company has not publicly confirmed negotiations with any party, nor has it confirmed its willingness to sell TikTok to a U.S. bidder. Tensions continue to rise between the U.S. and China. Trump's now-20% tariff on all Chinese imports has triggered another trade war, and the two superpowers have also accelerated a Cold War-esque technological race for global dominance in artificial intelligence. Rasner said that his team has not heard back from ByteDance. 'Negotiations are complex,' Rasner said, adding his team has hired Goodwin Procter, a global acquisitions firm, to help with the offer. Other suitors have also put their names in the running for a TikTok bid, with Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian most recently announcing he's joined Frank McCourt's bid. But Rasner's bid thus far marks the first time a potential buyer has detailed their plans publicly. The billionaire provided a glimpse of his vision for TikTok's future on the website which went live on Wednesday. 'Worried TikTok will be banned or sold to another corporate giant? We are too. That's why FoundersTok exists—to take back control of the platform you love and Make TikTok American,' the website states. Under Rasner's proposed plan, TikTok would offer payment tiers for U.S. users to buy into the platform as 'founding members.' Creators who donate, in tiers starting at $280 per year and going up to $12,000 a year, would receive a set of perks including a boost to their content and a verification badge on their profile. 'This is about the American people, this is about bringing TikTok to America. I'm going to fight for that day in and day out,' Rasner said, touting the website. 'This is going to be something so special for creators. These are the people who truly built TikTok …. We're giving it back to them, the people who built TikTok. We're going to make sure they are front and center.' Such a change would be reminiscent of Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter (now X) in 2022. Musk — who is President Trump's biggest ally — relaunched Twitter Blue as a paid subscription that granted users a verification badge and increased reach on the platform. 'TikTok will always be free, let's be very, very clear,' Rasner said. 'But if you're in an enterprise, a large corporation and you want to use TikTok, for $12,000 you're going to get exclusive benefits that will boost your content to the appropriate audience. You're going to be able to go viral more often.' His proposal also aims to bring TikTok's headquarters, currently located in Los Angeles and Singapore, to Wyoming — where Rasner previously ran for a U.S. Senate seat.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wyoming businessman Reid Rasner offers $47B bid to acquire TikTok
TikTok has 42 days to finalize a deal with an American buyer — and Wyoming resident Reid Rasner says he has made a 'competitive offer.' Rasner, a 40-year-old businessman, told the Deseret News on Thursday that he is offering more than $47.45 billion to acquire the app and its algorithm and move its headquarters from Singapore to Wyoming. It would be a lucrative deal for the states in the Mountain West and would give the controversial app a lifeline. Rasner, a fourth-generation Wyoming native, is the CEO of Omnivest Financial, a wealth management company. He ran against Sen. John Barrasso in the 2024 Senate Republican primary. At the time, he promised to stand against the corporate interests that he said control Washington, D.C., to curb spending and protect veterans. Rasner did not come close to defeating Barrasso, who was running for his fourth six-year term, garnering 24% to Barasso's 67%. But he claimed, 'This is the closest anyone has come to beating' the incumbent senator. He loaned his campaign more than $1.1 million, and spent nearly all of it, according to the Cowboy State Daily. During his career as a wealth manager, he has advised Wyoming's veterans, ranchers, first responders and teachers on ways to secure financial independence and a comfortable retirement, per his campaign website. On his campaign website, Rasner said he came from humble beginnings and spoke about his job sweeping floors at a local glass factory in Wyoming. He saved up enough money to buy a bike and later took an interest in investing in the stock market. By 16, he was investing his saved-up money. He attended the University of Wyoming where he studied English. In January, TikTok temporarily went dark ahead of its deadline to comply with U.S. law, which required ByteDance to divest from the social media app. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that gave TikTok 75 more days to find an American buyer. Now the time on this extension is running out. 'We're still in negotiations,' said Rasner. 'This is a business deal, and there's certain things I can't talk about in communications with TikTok and the negotiations with the White House. ... But I can tell you that we haven't had any negative pushback, and we're in a really great position to move this thing forward.' He said the No. 1 reason he is interested in buying the app is to protect U.S. national security. 'The Chinese government's connection with ByteDance — it is a real threat through data mining, influence, you name it," Rasner said. 'I've got the vision to make TikTok safe for Americans. We're going to store the data on American soil, and we're going to protect the data right here to the highest levels of standards, and it will be unbreachable.' He made the case for Wyoming to be TikTok's new home, creating a fourth legacy industry in the state, behind renewable and nonrenewable power, agriculture and tourism. It will fuel investments into fiber optic broadband and satellite technology and create jobs, he said. The Cowboy State has 'an abundance of cheap, clean energy' that would allow him to run the servers and storage facilities 'for pennies on the dollar.' He said he also expects other states in the Mountain West to reap the benefits of the relocation of the app, which already has a massive digital footprint of 170 million American users. 'We've been working on this for months,' said Rasner. He has 'all hands on deck, around the clock' on the deal. He said his engineers are preparing to take on the TikTok interface and algorithm to give American users a 'clean break' from China. Now, it comes down to the final days of negotiations, he said. There are other potential buyers, like X owner Elon Musk, content creator Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast on the internet, Canadian investor and star of the reality television show 'Shark Tank' Kevin O'Leary, Oracle CEO and cofounder Larry Ellison, and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Microsoft was also in talks to acquire TikTok, Trump confirmed in January. 'There's a lot of people interested in TikTok and we have a chance of doing something good and we'll be speaking to China also,' Trump said aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. 'It will be great to keep TikTok alive, sell it to somebody that is going to do a great job' But Rasner said he believes his bid is unique and competitive, and it meets the guidelines and expectations set by the Supreme Court, Congress and the Trump White House. He hasn't used TikTok to avoid compromising his data and information but assumes it's 'an amazing product.' Since news got out that Rasner may buy the app, he's received thousands of emails expressing excitement about the possibility of American ownership. Rasner said hopes to grow the company in the U.S. For now, he's in 'a very competitive, high risk, high stakes game' with a fast approaching deadline. Sign in to access your portfolio
NBC News
21-02-2025
- Business
- NBC News
‘We're securing this for America': Entrepreneur Reid Rasner makes $50B offer to buy TikTok
Wyoming entrepreneur Reid Rasner has offered to buy TikTok for nearly $50 billion from its current Chinese owners ByteDance. Rasner's offer comes as President Trump said he plans to speak with China about TikTok's future in the U.S. NBC News' Savannah Sellers spoke to Rasner about why he wants to buy TikTok.
