It probably sucks to be TikTok rn.
Not only is the platform staring down a mid-January 2025 deadline to sell its US business or face a ban, but its competitors are cashing in on its misery.
- Meta hit a record-high $629.78 on Dec 6 after the court upheld TikTok’s sell-or-ban ruling.
- Alphabet, Snap, Pinterest, and even Truth Social (Donald Trump’s baby) saw their stocks jump too.
- Meanwhile, TikTok filed an emergency appeal on Monday, warning that uncertainty will push advertisers to its rivals.
No surprise there — the US is TikTok’s second-biggest market after Indonesia. Its e-commerce feature, barely a year old, raked in $100 million during Black Friday alone.
TikTok did not respond to MONIIFY’s request for comment.
The ripple effect
The looming deadline isn’t just a headache for TikTok. Its US partners are definitely feeling the heat, too.
- Oracle hosts TikTok’s US user data under a $1 billion deal.
- Microsoft earns $20 million a month providing ByteDance with AI services.
- AWS and Google Cloud also play roles in TikTok’s infrastructure.
And then there are investors like Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic, holding illiquid stakes in ByteDance.
The bigger picture
With 170 million users in the US and 7 million business accounts, TikTok argues it’s a crucial piece of the US economy, contributing $8.5 billion to GDP last year.
If forced to sell, TikTok US could reportedly fetch $40–$50 billion but no one save some of the Big Tech have that kind of cash, who are also likely to run into anti-trust roadblocks.
And ByteDance, which faced similar legal wrangling during Trump’s first administration, has hinted it would rather shut down US operations than sell its crown jewels.
Zapping the popular short-video app from US phones would reshape the social media landscape, leaving creators scrambling to build followings on the alternatives.
Not for the first time, US TikTok creators are asking audiences to follow them on Instagram and YouTube instead.
The Trump card
Donald Trump could be the wild card here. While he pushed for TikTok’s sale in 2020, reports suggest he might halt a ban.
Still, TikTok faces an uphill battle, even with its new lawyer — ironically, a former Trump administration insider.
As it stands, TikTok’s bid for a temporary reprieve was denied by an appeals court on Friday, so this fight is far from over.
One thing’s clear, though: the stakes have never been higher — and the clock is ticking for TikTok.
Dec 14: This article was updated to reflect a ruling by the US appeals court to reject TikTok’s emergency bid to temporarily delay the ban.
