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Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary uploaded a video on Instagram on June 21, 2025, sharing an update on the current state of TikTok's deal with the US. He revealed how his team would buy the app after it was given another extension to resolve its privacy threat issue.
The video, being recorded in his car, featured Kevin describing the situation and explaining how his syndicate, which is also in the race to buy TikTok, would tackle the app's privacy issue.
The Shark Tank investor clarified that there was no purchase of TikTok with the Chinese algorithm, so they would have to rewrite it and come up with their own engine for the app.
"So our proposal is to fix that and not use the Chinese algorithm," he mentioned in the caption of the post.
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He added that the plan also includes addressing the ongoing litigation faced by social media platforms—issues that largely stem from the fact that the platforms own user data rather than the users themselves.
On June 19, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a new executive order granting a 90-day extension on the deadline for banning TikTok in the United States. Under this order, ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, now has until September 17, 2025, to transfer control of its US operations.
Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary explains the conditions that TikTok would need to follow
In the shared Instagram clip, Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary first explained the current status of TikTok's deal with the US before going into how his team would work around the situation to buy the app.
Kevin shared that TikTok had found its way into the overall China negotiations and was now part of a settlement with the country. He noted that since there was now a law in place, a further extension was required, and it mentioned the app couldn't use the Chinese algorithm because it was deemed spyware.
The Shark Tank investor pointed out that the first thing people could assume in the situation was that this was TikTok's last extension. The app only has 90 days to resolve its issue, and he believed that there would be no further extensions, and it would go dark just like it did in India back in 2020.
The second thing Kevin wanted people to keep in mind was that there was a slow realization that the existing algorithm would not be part of the solution.
However, he noted that the current Bytedance shareholders are trying to keep the Chinese algorithm and instead lease the app to an American owner so that it doesn't have to face any further obligations.
"So, nothing changes on TikTok except that TikTok USA is owned by a consortium of American shareholders. That would work if Congress would provide an indemnification to the buying group, because the fine is $5000 per day times 172 million. So billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars. And nobody can really afford that. No corporation could,' he explained.
The Shark Tank investor continued:
"There were many attempts to try and soften that language, but it was upheld 9 to 0 at the Supreme Court. So again, the realization over the last two extensions has come home to roost. There is not going to be a purchase of TikTok with the Chinese algorithm".
Besides the current Bytedance shareholders, Kevin noted that his syndicate, led by Frank McCourt, was also in the race to buy the platform. He shared that their proposal was to buy the platform and then rewrite its entire algorithm so that it fits all the required boxes issued by the US government.
Additionally, he said that his team will also try to solve all the litigation that social media gets over the concerns of the company having access to the data rather than the user.
"Somehow, some way, these two groups are going to get together because one has something the other doesn't. In the case of the original Bytedance shareholders, they already owned the stock. They already own it, so they should be part of the solution. We have in our side, we spent millions of dollars on new technology that'll be the engine that is not owned by the Chinese," he concluded.
Shark Tank season 16 episodes are available on Hulu and ABC.
