New questions arise over TikTok sale
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Quick Summary
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has questions about a $10 billion fee that TikTok's buyers reportedly are paying the U.S. Treasury Department, on top of what they spent to buy the actual business from China's ByteDance.
But those involved are keeping silent.
Driving the news: Warner yesterday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, asking about how the fee was determined, approved and how the money would be spent without violating the Anti-Deficiency Act — a rule that prohibits federal agencies from spending money without Congressional appropriation (unless used for deficit reduction).
His office seems to have no additional information than what was first reported by the WSJ. For context, a typical M&A banker would take 1% or 2% deal fee. With TikTok, the Treasury Department got over 70%.
Zoom in: When the deal was first announced, many were stunned by the $14 billion price tag. It read like a fire sale, with sources chalking that up to how ByteDance had been put over a barrel by a U.S. law requiring divestiture.
But we now know the price wasn't really $14 billion. It was $24 billion. It's something that likely infuriates ByteDance investors, many of whom are U.S. venture capital firms, even if they got to retain nearly a 20% stake in the carved-out business. There also were other bidders, who today might be wondering if their failure was baked in.
Zoom out: The Treasury Department didn't respond to multiple requests from Axios for comment. Not did TikTok U.S. or the office of Vice President Vance, who led deal negotiations.
Oracle and Silver Lake, which now each own 15% stakes in TikTok US., both declined comment. In its latest earnings report, Oracle noted its equity investment but not any fee payment. For Silver Lake, it's unclear if the fee is being paid by limited partners or the general partner. Several background sources who've been chatty throughout the multi-year process have refused to discuss the matter. One of the few who talked, albeit briefly, said: "You should FOIA the shit out of this."
The bottom line: The U.S. government appears to have extracted billions of dollars from investors and corporations, in exchange for signing off on a private market transaction.
It is unprecedented. And officially undisclosed.