Rapper Soulja Boy made the bold -- if probably not serious -- declaration that he would buy TikTok on Wednesday (Apr. 24). The insanely popular video sharing platform is in the midst of a potential ban, with President Joe Biden signing in legislation that requires ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns the app, to sell TikTok. If ByteDance fails to sell TikTok within the next nine months, the app will be banned in the United States.
Soulja Boy took to X, formerly Twitter, to express his feelings about the new bill, which united Republicans and Democrats in both the House of Representatives and Senate.
Quote-tweeting a post announcing that the U.S. Senate had passed the bill, Soulja Boy posted: "Smh this isn't right. No freedom of speech. 1st amendment down the drain."
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew reassured users that TikTok "wasn't going anywhere," and indicated that the app will move to file a suit, arguing that banning the app is a violation of free speech.
"I can't believe yall just gon let them ban TikTok like that. And yall think it's funny. If they do it to this app they can do it to any app or site. Not cool fr yall will see later," Soulja Boy wrote.
He followed up the initial post with a daunting ask: "How much yall want for TikTok? I'll buy it." He tagged the company at the end of the tweet.
TikTok is worth roughly $100 billion per an analyst at Wedbush Securities. This price tag is primarily because of the app's impressive algorithm. Without the algorithm, the company could be worth between $30 and $40 billion.
Soulja Boy does not have billions of dollars.
In 2023, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge deemed Soulja Boy's net worth to be negative as he failed to provide financial records to the court. He was ordered to pay a $472,000 judgment to Kayla Myers, an ex-girlfriend, after she accused the rapper of hitting her with a gun in an assault and kidnapping case. He attempted to convince the court to throw out the civil suit, pointing to financial struggles and a $1 million tax lien.
The court argued that Soulja Boy must have some form of income as he "is paying $300,000/year in rent alone...that money must come from somewhere." The judge suggested that Soulja Boy reduce his spending, saying that he could downsize from his Los Angeles home, which costs him $25,000 in monthly rent.
The "Crank That" rapper has an online merchandise market place, where he sells garments, backpacks, canvases and stickers.
In 2018, he started a line of technology products. He began with the SouljaWatch, which is his take on the smart watch. He followed up the watch with a line of "SouljaGame" game consoles, offering handheld and home consoles. The SouljaGame Console reportedly came with 800 built-in games while the Handheld boasted 3,000. The games were allegedly from other gaming devices and lines like the Nintendo Switch and PS Vita.
Websites like Games Radar pointed out that the SouljaGame consoles were made by Anbernic, which sells its products on AliExpress, a Chinese online retailer known for its cheap prices and low quality. Soulja Boy's technology products were available on souljawatch.com, which has since been deactivated. He claimed to earn over $250,000 on the products within 24 hours.
This January, Soulja Boy took to Instagram to attempt to quell the rumors of his negative net worth. He posted a screenshot of his earnings as a Warner Chappell Music artist, showing off $1,493,724.
Soulja Boy's net worth is unclear. It may be in the negatives per Los Angeles courts, it may be $ 5 million per Hot New Hip Hop. Regardless, the odds that the rapper can afford to purchase TikTok are very, very slim.
