Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is putting together a group of U.S. investors to buy TikTok after the House of Representatives passed legislation that would force its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell it to American interests due to national security concerns.
"It's a great business and I'm going to put together a group to buy TikTok… because they should be owned by U.S. businesses," Mnuchin told CNBC's "Squawkbox" on Thursday.
Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during the Future Investment Initiative Institute Priority Summit in Miami, Florida, on March 30, 2023. (Marco Bello/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Mnuchin said that when he chaired the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) as Treasury secretary during the Trump administration, he "had President Trump sign an order that TikTok had to be sold." Mnuchin said he still believes TikTok should be sold, and he believes the House's bill should pass the Senate.
CFIUS has been investigating TikTok for years under President Biden, but has not forced the company to be sold in order to continue operating in the U.S.