Manus Founders Seek $1 Billion to Buy Back AI Unit From Meta at $2 Billion Valuation
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · May 21
Manus Founders Seek $1 Billion to Buy Back AI Unit From Meta at $2 Billion Valuation
2 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · May 21
$1 billion is the amount Manus’s three co-founders are weighing raising from outside investors to unwind Meta’s takeover of the Chinese-founded AI company.
Beijing is pushing for the deal to be reversed, prompting Xiao Hong, Ji Yichao and Zhang Tao to explore a buyback structure that would at least match the $2 billion Meta paid.
The founders could contribute their own money to complete the transaction if external funding does not cover the full amount.
A successful buyback would be followed by setting up Manus as a Chinese joint venture with new backers, ahead of a planned Hong Kong IPO.
As Beijing forces Meta's sale, is any Chinese-founded tech company truly safe for foreign acquisition?
Can Manus’s 'agentic AI,' now forced back to China, become Beijing’s answer to OpenAI's global dominance?