Hey there weekday warrior,

What’s that? You really thought I was going to take the day off (friendly reminder: TWC usually closes when markets do) while one of the biggest business stories of the 21st century was hot in the streets? Think again.

Today, I’ve got a short newsletter dedicated to the only story that really matters: TikTok.

– tyler

PS, in case the TikTok drama doesn’t do it for you, I want to send one of you guys on a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas. Check out all the details below.

I want you to get the word out there that we back up

Our short national nightmare is over (for now)…

Listen, you might have had a sh*tty weekend (think: you lost a custody battle on Friday, had the Chiefs -9.5, etc.), but you definitely didn’t have a worse weekend than engineers at TikTok US…

At around 10:30 PM EST on Saturday night, presumably after one last scan for US national security secrets, the Chinese government Bytedance closed up shop. That’s right, hours before the January 19th deadline, TikTok went dark in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Users began reporting this message…

Soon after TikTok pulled the plug, Google and Apple removed the platform from their app stores.

All this despite President-elect Trump making time during his inauguration weekend on Saturday to share that he’d most likely grant TikTok a 90-day extension on enforcement of the law that the Supreme Court upheld on Friday.

But by Sunday afternoon, less than 24 hours after its demise was greatly exaggerated, TikTok was back online in the US. Apparently, Donny Politics provided TikTok “assurances” that he’d sign an executive order Monday (today) delaying the ban.

Of course, that simply kicks the can down the road. Even with the 90-day reprieve, TikTok still faces a ban in April if it doesn’t find a US buyer…

So, what’s next?

Well, one (new) option on the table appears to be a merger with Perplexity AI… and no piece of drywall in Sam Altman’s house is safe right now.

Perplexity AI submitted a bid to merge with TikTok. The snitch familiar with the deal didn’t offer up any financial details. But as part of the deal, ByteDance shareholders would allegedly be able to retain their equity stakes.

Temu OpenAI would also likely bring in some deep-pocketed partners. You see, TikTok US is expected to fetch upwards of $50B. Meanwhile, Perplexity most recently raised capital at a $9B valuation. Not exactly a merge of equals…

There are a handful of other groups that have already called dibs on TikTok, and there will undoubtedly be countless other vultures (read: PE shops) that are ready and willing to back up the Brink’s truck.

You might recall that last week Beijing indicated it would prefer if Elon bought TikTok… which makes sense since he’s got a bad habit of overpaying for social media platforms.

It just so happens that President Trump (Elon’s BFF) and President Xi hopped on a Zoom call Friday to discuss trade, fentanyl, and, you guessed it, TikTok.

GTFOOO (Get The F*ck Out Of Office)

Listen, I'm not here to judge. Maybe you need to lie low for a while until a Federal investigation dies down (*looks up extradition laws in international waters*).

Or maybe returning to the office has got you this close to going all Milton from ‘Office Space.’

Either way, we could all use a little escape from the rat race.

Which is why I teamed up with a few of my favorite newsletters to give away a 4-night cruise to the Bahamas for 2 (presumably me + you).

It's pretty simple...

1. Head to the giveaway website

2. Enter to win

3. Patiently wait (...while I rig the giveaway for a TWC reader)

The contest ends on January 23rd.

So what are you waiting for? Enter right now.

That’s it. That’s the newsletter. Back tomorrow with a full send.

Does this look like the face of a guy you should take financial advice from?

No, it’s the face of an individual who is financially irresponsible/dumb enough to be talked into spending money on a family photo shoot that he could have just done with his iPhone. So, act accordingly...

This is not financial advice. Nothing in this newsletter is an investment recommendation. All content is created for entertainment, educational, or informational purposes only. Do your own research, or do yourself a favor and hire a professional.