A ban on TikTok would be a blow to local billionaire investor and GOP megadonor Jeff Yass

Congress’ move toward potentially banning TikTok is likely to disappoint millions of Americans who enjoy using the video-sharing app — and also a billionaire investor in the Philadelphia suburbs who’s one of the biggest GOP donors in the country.

The Republican-led House’s vote Wednesday in favor of legislation that could shut down TikTok in the United States came not only despite pleas from TikTok users who flooded congressional offices with complaints but also from opposition from the Club for Growth, a conservative group that has received tens of millions of dollars in recent years from Jeff Yass, cofounder of the Bala Cynwyd-based trading and investment firm Susquehanna International Group.

The club hosted former President Donald Trump at a donor retreat earlier this month, after which he came out against the legislation. Trump spoke with Yass about school choice — Yass’ biggest political interest — during a cocktail party at the retreat, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump said on CNBC this week that the two didn’t discuss TikTok.

Susquehanna invested in Beijing-based ByteDance in 2012 before the company had even developed TikTok. Today Susquehanna’s stake is measured at about 15%, the Wall Street Journal reported last year, and worth about $21 billion.

The House voted 352-65. The bill’s future in the Senate is uncertain, but President Joe Biden has said he would sign it into law if it reaches his desk.

The bill would prohibit app stores and internet service providers from offering TikTok unless ByteDance divests from the app. The legislation’s supporters say the measure is aimed at protecting national security, raising concerns that the Chinese government could gain access to Americans’ data under TikTok’s current ownership structure.

Opponents say it would violate users’ free speech rights.

“I’ve supported libertarian and free market principles my entire adult life,” Yass, 65, told the Wall Street Journal last year. “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.”

TikTok says it hasn’t shared data with the Chinese government and wouldn’t do so if asked. The company said in a statement last week that the legislation “will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs.”

Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee, warned this week that banning TikTok would “make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people.”

While Trump was in the White House, his administration attempted to impose several bans on social media apps with ties to China, including TikTok, but they were blocked by the courts.

Trump’s recent about-face on the issue came after he reconciled with Club for Growth, a conservative group that had been at odds with Trump politically and which opposes a TikTok ban. Yass has contributed $61 million to the group since 2010, the Journal reported.

The club invited Trump to speak at its March 1 retreat in Palm Beach, Fla., and Trump reportedly told donors that he and the organization’s president were “back in love,” according to Politico. Trump praised Yass as “fantastic,” Politico reported.

Former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway has been lobbying members of Congress to oppose the TikTok ban on Club for Growth’s behalf, Politico reported.

Yass last year backed political groups supporting GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Tim Scott, and Chris Christie, according to campaign-finance records. Trump has been lagging Biden in fundraising; it remains to be seen whether Yass will support the former president financially ahead of the November election.

Susquehanna became ByteDance’s earliest U.S. backer in 2012, putting up $3 million of ByteDance’s $5 million initial funding round.