Who Might Buy TikTok?

Zyn's growing popularity; Russia is holding its presidential election

Author

Ren Little
March 15, 2024

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Good morning,

The massive 400-foot SpaceX Starship rocket reached new heights during its third test flight yesterday, making it the largest spacecraft to enter orbital velocity.

  • The spacecraft didn’t have anyone on board. About 49 minutes into the flight—with just 15 minutes remaining—contact was lost and the rocket likely broke apart.

  • Where ya at? The FAA is investigating why the rocket didn’t land in the Indian Ocean as planned. Still, NASA and SpaceX say the mission was a success.

The spacecraft is set to play a crucial role in NASA’s next moon-landing mission— with astronauts— that could launch in 2026.

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Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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📲 COMPANIES GET IN LINE TO BUY TIKTOK

Potential TikTok buyers are beginning to emerge as Congress moves a bill that could for a sale of, or ban, the app if signed into law. The first prominent potential bidder speaking out is Steve Mnuchin, an investment banker and former US Treasury Secretary.

The former Trump official says he is putting together an investor group to acquire the app if Chinese-based ByteDance is forced to sell to stay in the US market. [Video: Mosheh broke down what to expect]

NOT HIS FIRST RODEO
Bloomberg Intelligence projects TikTok’s US arm, with 170 million users, is worth over $35 billion. Mnuchin, who leads private equity firm Liberty Strategic Capital, said, “It’s a great business and I’m going to put together a group to buy TikTok.”

  • Mnuchin isn't saying who exactly he's bringing together, but says no investor would own more than 10% of TikTok. In 2021, his private equity group raised about $2.5 billion.

    • Saudi Arabia is one of the backers to Liberty Strategic Capital. It’s unclear what role they’d play, if any, in the group’s bid for TikTok.

  • Been here before: As Treasury Secretary, Mnuchin helped execute then-President Trump’s executive order demanding ByteDance sell Tiktok. That plan fell through, but cloud computing giant, Oracle, did make a deal with ByteDance to route all US users' data through the software giant's cloud infrastructure. Oracle could be interested in buying TikTok if it became available again.

WHAT’S NEXT
A few other US investors and tech giants have publicly and privately expressed interest in buying TikTok, including Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard.

  • Meta (which owns Instagram & Facebook), Alphabet (which owns Youtube), and Microsoft (which has a major stake in OpenAI) are likely interested, but there would likely be too many antitrust issues.

  • Future unclear: President Biden says he’ll sign the legislation into law, but it first needs to pass the Senate, where its outcome remains uncertain. Even if a law is signed, it is unclear if ByteDance would even sell, or try their hand in court.

🇷🇺 RUSSIA’S ELECTIONS: WHAT SIX MORE YEARS OF PUTIN MEANS

A leaflet displays the four presidential candidates. Via: CNN.

Russians will go to the polls starting today for presidential elections. Spoiler alert: Vladimir Putin will win another six-year term. The only question is what percent the Kremlin will have him win by. The election will last three days, and there is no real opposition to the 71-year-old autocrat, who’s expected to tout record turnout and widespread support for the war.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Under the Russian constitution, Putin's tenure should have already ended. But in 2021 he signed a constitutional change which allows him to lead the nation of around 146 million people until 2036, and experts suspect he will remain in power for the rest of his life.

  • The three candidates running against Putin largely support the war and represent Kremlin-friendly parties, while two candidates that did NOT support the invasion of Ukraine were barred from running.

  • Washington Post reporter Robyn Dixon says the reason Putin keeps the facade of an open, democratic election is to give the illusion of legitimacy.

  • State-owned polling agency VCIOM predicts Putin will win 82% of the vote—surpassing his prior record in 2018 with 76.7% of the vote.

Putin’s most well-known rival, Alexei Navalny, who died while in a Russian penal colony last month, called for Russians to vote for anyone but Putin prior to his death, and to hold a “Noon Against Putin” protest on Sunday.

WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT
Since his 2018 election, Putin’s government has cracked down on media and his opposition, and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine shifted his position on the global stage.

  • Economy: Despite international sanctions for their invasion in Ukraine, the Russian economy is relatively strong. Wages have soared by double digits, the ruble has stabilized, and poverty and unemployment are at record lows.

  • Social issues: Last year, Russia declared the LGBTQ “movement” extremist and banned gender transitioning.

  • Another Mobilization: Putin received pushback when he mobilized 300,000 reservists in Sep. 2022. Another call for more military force could come after the election as the war enters its third year with no sign of stopping.

    • “Putin has often postponed unpopular moves until after elections,” says Cornell University professor Bryn Rosenfeld.

📈 THE RISING POPULARITY & CONCERN OF ZYN NICOTINE POUCHES

A nicotine pouch that has been around for a decade is taking off with record sales across the country. Washington has taken notice. In January, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for a federal investigation into Zyn pouches and possibly their marketing to young people, but some Republicans pushed back with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) saying, “This calls for a Zynsurrection!”

WHAT IS ZYN?
Zyn pouches fit into the corner of users’ mouths and are filled with nicotine and flavoring. Cans cost about $5 for 15 pouches. In 2023, 350 million cans of Zyn shipped in the US—an over 60% jump from just the year before.

  • Alarm amongst parents: While Zyn is for people 21+, a 2023 study found that 1.5% of middle and high school students reported using the product in the past 30 days. While that’s less than e-cigarettes (10%), cigarettes, and cigars, Schumer says, “these nicotine pouches seem to lock their sights on young kids—teenagers, and even lower—and then use the social media to hook them.”

The product is touted by online influencers as a healthier alternative to cigarettes and vapes—which impact lung health—but health experts caution against jumping to any conclusions before more research is done.

HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
The FDA is currently reviewing a marketing application from Zyn’s parent company. Time reports that Zyn entered the market when the FDA had few regulations for new tobacco and nicotine products.

  • Studies from the past couple years show that the product has potentially harmful substances, including ammonia and formaldehyde, and users’ side-effects can be strong. There is also concern about harm to the cardiovascular system, as well as risks for oral health that could lead to mouth lesions.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Judge rejects bid by Donald Trump to throw out classified documents case on constitutional grounds (AP NEWS)

📌 Michigan school shooter's father found guilty of involuntary manslaughter (AXIOS)

📌 Biden issues statement on death of LGBTQ teen Nex Benedict, drawing attention to suicide crisis (NBC NEWS)

📌 Kamala Harris declares 'health crisis' in historic visit to abortion clinic in Minnesota (USA TODAY)

📌 Sen. Bernie Sanders introduces 4-day workweek legislation (CNBC)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Chuck Schumer’s anti-Netanyahu speech stuns Israel (AXIOS)

📌 Palestinian leader appoints longtime adviser as prime minister in the face of calls for reform (FOX NEWS)

📌 The UK government has published a new definition of ‘extremism.’ Critics fear it could curtail free speech (CNN)

📌 Banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, a Japanese high court rules (CBS NEWS)

📌 Macron again declines to rule out Western troops in Ukraine, but says they’re not needed now (AP)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Python farming could offer one of the most sustainable sources of meat in the world, according to a new study (ABC NEWS)

📌 All eligible people at Chicago migrant shelter have been vaccinated for measles in ‘unprecedented operation’ (CNN)

📌 Blood test shows 83% accuracy for detecting colorectal cancer, study finds (CBS NEWS)

📌 A new surge in power use threatens U.S. climate goals (NY TIMES)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Justin Timberlake reunites *NSYNC at warm-up concert in Los Angeles (BILLBOARD)

📌 ‘The Bear’ secretly renewed for Season 4 to film directly after Season 3 (VARIETY)

📌 Meghan returns to Instagram with her new brand: American Riviera Orchard (NBC NEWS)

📌 Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani reveals his wife as Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka (TMZ)


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