A billionaire financier named Jeff Yass, who has a massive stake in TikTok, has been funding libertarian and pro-business groups in Washington to prevent the Chinese-owned app from being banned.
Susquehanna International Group, Yass’ investment company, bought a stake in TikTok’s parent company ByteDance in 2012. Its stake is now measured to be roughly 15%. Yass’ personal share of that is 7%, or $21 billion by valuation ($28 billion according to Bloomberg’s estimate).
Yass is a top donor to the free-market libertarian think tank Club for Growth, a well-connected and powerful organization in Washington, D.C. Yass has contributed about $61 million to the Club’s political action committee (PAC) since 2010, which accounts for nearly a quarter of its overall revenue.
When a growing number of conservative lawmakers and pundits began calling for a TikTok ban on grounds of national security, as ByteDance and the data of its American users is effectively owned by the Chinese government, Club for Growth came to TikTok’s defense.
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In March 2023, Democrats were beginning to come around to anti-Big Tech Republicans on the subject. In response, Club for Growth President David McIntosh wrote an op-ed for Fox News arguing that banning TikTok through the proposed DATA Act would severely limit Americans’ freedoms in the long term, as it would introduce capabilities for the state to restrict or dictate terms to apps. He also claimed it was hypocritical for American tech businesses like Meta to get behind the ban, as they also work with China.
That same week, libertarian Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) blocked Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) attempt to push a ban on TikTok, making the same argument that McIntosh did in the op-ed. “Every accusation of data gathering that’s been attributed to TikTok could also be attributed to domestic big tech companies,” Rand said. He framed it as a first amendment issue, and warned about giving future presidents “limitless” authority to regulate social media apps and ban speech. “We will be acting like the Chinese government if we ban TikTok here.”
Rand Paul, citing the First Amendment, blocks an attempt by Josh Hawley to fast-track a complete ban of TikTok. Paul then ridicules Republicans who purport to oppose online censorship, but now suddenly demand that the federal government impose censorship on an unprecedented scale pic.twitter.com/TDl4V1DIJ5
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) March 30, 2023
In June 2023, Yass then donated $3 million to the Protect Freedom PAC, a super PAC that supports Rand Paul. Yass has given Paul over $24 million since 2015 either through direct campaign contributions or through contributions to groups that support him, according to the Wall Street Journal. Club for Growth has also given a pro-Paul PAC $1.8 million since 2020.
The New York Post asked for Sen. Paul for comment. “My opposition to censorship and my unwavering support for the First Amendment are consistent, deeply held libertarian beliefs,” he said. “Anyone who asserts that my positions are mercantile hasn’t been paying attention.”
When a different bipartisan bill, the RESTRICT Act, hit Congress with support from the Biden administration, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) jumped to oppose it. Massie also receives money from Yass and from Club for Growth as well.
When asked about his political contributions, Yass did not back down. “I’ve supported libertarian and free market principles my entire adult life,” Yass said. “TikTok is about free speech and innovation, the epitome of libertarian and free market ideals. The idea of banning TikTok is an anathema to everything I believe.”
Hawley was not exactly impressed by these defenses. “TikTok and its dark-money cronies are spending vast amounts of money to kill these bills,” he bluntly responded when asked about Yass and Club for Growth.
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