[gexla]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out though. People follow the money. Investors wouldn't be interested if they didn't see the value. If the new app can snag the network effects, then it will win. What is TikTok worth without the US audience?

[mullingitover]

The buyers are so absurdly wealthy that it’s not really wealth anymore, it’s power. They’re simply trading some of their dragon hoard of power for some other form of it. These people are above pedestrian worries about ROI.

[tsimionescu]

> People follow the money. Investors wouldn't be interested if they didn't see the value.

The value may well be in currying favor with the Trump regime, not in the actual deal for itself. If you can lose a few billion on becoming best friends with an increasingly authoritarian leadership, you may well get much more power and future opportunities from that.

[zoom6628]

This. Ellison is a Trump+power fanboi. Through a few billion at a project to get multiples in return in other projects.