Amidst the turmoil and possible ban TikTok is facing now, there are business people who are looking to buy the platform from China's ByteDance, with Bobby Kotick reportedly interested in this venture. Kotick is best known for his many years as Activision Blizzard's CEO, also the leader when the company bought King and when it was sold over to Microsoft.
The report claimed that he had already begun pitching this idea to potential partners, including OpenAI's co-founder and top executive, Sam Altman.
Ex-Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Wants to Buy TikTok
(Photo : Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The Wall Street Journal reported that Bobby Kotick opened up the idea of buying TikTok to tech moguls seated with him during a conference dinner last week, looking to buy the platform from ByteDance.
The report claimed that Kotick went as far as to bring it up to ByteDance's executive chair, Zhang Yiming, during the said dinner, while seated alongside Sam Altman and other tech executives. It was reported that the TikTok sale would be possibly around hundreds of billions of dollars should it push through.
It comes at a time when TikTok is facing scrutiny over its US operations, centering on a possible ban should the RESTRICT Act get the votes it needs and pass as a law by the House. Moreover, POTUS Biden commented on this, claiming that he would sign it into law once it passes.
Partners with OpenAI's Sam Altman for TikTok US Venture
Kotick was also reportedly pitching this idea with OpenAI's Sam Altman, one of the possible partners of this TikTok US sale venture which Kotick would lead. Among his achievements as Activision Blizzard King's CEO, Kotick has also caught up in several controversies during his time as its CEO, centering on sexual harassment issues and gender discrimination suits.
TikTok's Looming Ban and Activision Blizzard's Kotick
TikTok has been facing massive scrutiny since last year when the RESTRICT Act was introduced by the US Congress, centering on a bill that would identify them as a foreign entity and be subject to cut-off ties with ByteDance. Recently, US representatives voted 50-0 towards moving the bill forward to a House vote, after TikTok urged users to call the representatives' offices and urge them to vote against it.
Presently, the bill's progression means one massive thing for TikTok, and that is the company being forced to divest its assets or be banned from its US operations.
This is where Kotick comes in, a potential businessman looking to buy TikTok from ByteDance for its continued US operations, best known for his work in making Call of Duty the massive franchise it is today.
While it remains unknown if this is truly something that the executive plans for the future, it only shows how companies or individuals will look towards TikTok once the bill is passed and turns into a law. Kotick is among the earliest to show interest in buying TikTok in the future, alongside several partners, one that would subject it to new management and help it retain its US operations for the public.
