Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is reportedly telling investors he would rebuild TikTok if he is able to purchase the popular social media platform.
Mnuchin has told prospective investors that he may try to overcome the hurdles of a TikTok purchase from its current Chinese owners by not buying the algorithm, which China has banned from being exported, according to a report from the Washington Post.
The report suggests that Mnuchin believes he can buy the platform at a discount if the algorithm is not included, but it would force the social media network to be rebuilt as a result.
Mnuchin announced his intention to assemble a group of investors to purchase TikTok as the House of Representatives advanced legislation to force the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or have the app banned in the United States.
“It’s a great business, and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok,” Mnuchin said on CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier this month.
“This 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,” he added.
TikTok has strongly opposed the legislation and has vowed to fight it in the courts if it is signed into law.
The House of Representatives voted 352-65 earlier this month to pass the bill, sending it to the Senate — which has yet to take up the legislation.
When the House passed the legislation, Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) and vice chairman Marco Rubio (R-FL) said in a joint statement they would work to get the bill passed in the Senate.
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“We were encouraged by today’s strong bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives, and look forward to working together to get this bill passed through the Senate and signed into law,” the two senators said in a statement earlier this month.
President Joe Biden has said he will sign the bill into law if it is passed by the Senate.
