Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, is very different and "much more pro-social," NYU professor Jonathan Haidt told Business Insider in Davos.

The bankers definitely want in despite this being a heavy lift because the fees on an estimated $20-plus billion deal could be pretty rich.

General Atlantic CEO and ByteDance board member Bill Ford said Wednesday that he believes TikTok soon will reach a deal to remain in the U.S.  “It’s in everybody’s interest,” Ford said

TikTok was restored in the US after Trump (then the president-elect) said he would issue an executive order following his inauguration to extend the period before the law took effect. He signed that order Monday.

TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly still searching for non-sale options to stay in the US after the Supreme Court upheld a national security law requiring that TikTok's US operations either be shut down or sold to a non-foreign adversary.

The billionaire declined to share details on his sources of financing, but said private equity firms and family offices have reached out.

"Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth ... But if you don't make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply you will have to pay a tariff," Trump said.

United States President Donald Trump is seemingly using TikTok, a popular social media platform owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, as a bargaining chip for Sino-US economic and trade relations, experts and market insiders said on Tuesday.

The World Economic Forum, colloquially called "Davos" after the location at which it's hosted in the Swiss mountains, is a yearly meeting of elites.

Beyond the physical and psychological harm TikTok is causing to young people, the app’s content puts U.S. security at risk by providing the Chinese Communist government with a propaganda megaphone directly targeting 170 million American users.

Billionaire Frank McCourt has expressed openness to partnering with other buyers for a bid to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, McCourt emphasised that while financing is not a challenge,

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) -U.S. businessman Frank McCourt is open to teaming up with other buyers on a bid to take over the U.S. operations of TikTok as long as he can maintain control of the asset, he told Reuters at the Davos event on Thursday.