Reid Rasner isn’t just making a bid—he’s taking a stand. In an exclusive interview with Joe Pags, the entrepreneur behind a $50 billion proposal to buy TikTok laid out his vision for the platform’s future—one that includes complete American control and a hard exit for Chinese influence.
“This isn’t about the money,” Rasner declared. “It’s about espionage. We can’t trust the CCP.” His bid, which has been months in the making, aims to strip TikTok away from its parent company, ByteDance, and transform it into a fully American-owned and operated entity. He emphasized that if ByteDance refuses to sell, they may face an ultimatum: “Sell, or not exist in America.”
Rasner’s bold style was front and center when Pags asked why he wasn’t building his own app instead. His response? “China can suck it.” Rasner made it clear that acquiring the app’s powerful algorithm is non-negotiable. “We need that algorithm,” he said. “The algorithm has to come with it.”
He also shared his plan to move TikTok’s operations to the heartland of America, envisioning a new tech hub based in Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. “We want to create a new Silicon Valley,” he said. Rasner explained that if the purchase goes through, his engineers would then spend about six months conducting due diligence to ensure the entire platform could be transferred from China to the United States—securely and without any ties back to the CCP.
The Trump administration is expected to play a pivotal role in deciding which American bidder, if any, will be greenlit to purchase TikTok. Rasner acknowledged the significance of that political influence: “This is unprecedented. This is business and politics merging together.”
He didn’t hold back when asked about Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s competing bid. “If Oracle ends up with this deal, nothing will change,” Rasner claimed, warning that Ellison “would have no problem working with China.”
Rasner ended the conversation with confidence, saying, “Only Americans will own this company,” and promising, “We’ve got some very exciting things coming.”
Catch the full interview on The Joe Pags Show for more on Reid Rasner’s bold plans to reshape TikTok—and challenge China’s grip on American technology.