AppLovin can offer TikTok ‘much stronger bid than others,’ CEO says

AppLovin can offer TikTok ‘much stronger bid than others,’ CEO says


Piotr Swat | Lightrocket | Getty Images

AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi provided more clarity on the ad-tech company’s late-stage effort to acquire TikTok, calling his offer a “much stronger bid than others” on CNBC’s “The Exchange” on Friday afternoon.

Foroughi said the company is proposing a merger between AppLovin and the entire global business of TikTok, characterizing the deal as a “partnership” where the Chinese could participate in the upside while AppLovin would run the app.

“If you pair our algorithm with the TikTok audience, the expansion on that platform for dollars spent will be through the roof,” Foroughi said.

The news comes as President Trump announced he would extend the deadline a second time for TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance to sell the U.S. subsidiary of TikTok to an American buyer or face an effective ban on U.S. app stores. The new deadline is now in June, which, as Foroughi described, “buys more time to put the pieces together” on AppLovin’s bid. 

“The president’s a great dealmaker — we’re proposing, essentially an enhancement to the deal that they’ve been working on, but a bigger version of all the deals contemplated,” he added.

AppLovin faces a crowded field of other interested U.S. backers, including Amazon, Oracle, billionaire Frank McCourt and his Project Liberty consortium, and numerous private equity firms. Some proposals reportedly structure the deal to give a U.S. buyer 50% ownership of the company, rather than a complete acquisition. The Chinese government will still need to approve the deal, and AppLovin’s interest in purchasing TikTok in “all markets outside of China” is “preliminary,” according to an April 3 SEC filing.

Correction: A prior version of this story incorrectly characterized China’s ongoing role in TikTok should AppLovin acquire the app.

WATCH: AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi on its bid to buy TikTok

AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi on its bid to buy TikTok



Source

Pinterest shares rise 15% on better-than-expected guidance
Technology

Pinterest shares rise 15% on better-than-expected guidance

Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest, rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on May 15, 2024. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Pinterest shares rose 15% in extended trading Thursday after the company reported first-quarter earnings and provided better-than-expected guidance. Here’s how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG: Revenue: $855 […]

Read More
Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky sentenced to 12 years in multi-billion-dollar crypto fraud case
Technology

Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky sentenced to 12 years in multi-billion-dollar crypto fraud case

Alex Mashinsky, former chief executive officer of Celsius Network Ltd., arrives at court in New York, US, on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images Alexander Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius Network, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud, a […]

Read More
Affirm drops 10% on weaker-than-expected guidance for current quarter
Technology

Affirm drops 10% on weaker-than-expected guidance for current quarter

PayPal Inc. co-founder and Affirm’s CEO Max Levchin on center stage during day one of Collision 2019 at Enercare Center in Toronto, Canada. Vaughn Ridley | Sportsfile | Getty Images Affirm, the provider of buy now, pay later loans, gave a revenue forecast for the current quarter that trailed analysts’ estimates even as profit for […]

Read More