TikTok's fate could be left up to Beijing thanks to a “secret” deal that gives the Chinese government leverage over any potential deal involving the platform, Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary told FOX Business on Monday.

“There's something called a secret golden share that every Chinese company has to give to the CCP leadership. It's Xi (Jinping) himself, and it turns out that unless ByteDance decides, it can't negotiate with anything,” said O'Leary Ventures chairman. “Mornings with Maria” guest host Cheryl Casone.

“A hidden stake is veto power over all other shareholders,” he said. “Once the secret stock is issued, they have no rights, so now we're dealing with what to do with the secret stock, because until he decides what's going to happen, it doesn't matter what the shareholders or the CEO think. or management of any importance, it is now the hidden golden stake that determines TikTok's fate.”

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Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Leary Ventures, discussed TikTok's uncertain future during an appearance on “Mornings With Maria” on Monday. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

as The New York Times explainedin this arrangement, “the Chinese government receives a small portion of the company's stock in exchange for a seat on the board and the right to veto certain company decisions.”

Speaking later on the subject at Varney & Co., O'Leary said the news may come as a surprise to other investors involved in Chinese companies.

“They're all subject to the owner of the hidden gold stock, and I think if you're listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ or any other exchange, that's against some of the U.S. securities laws,” he said.

“There's a rumor in Washington today that Lindsey (Graham) … is going to introduce a bill on this very soon because we're learning a lot through this TikTok situation. There's no deal yet. That deal is now in Trump's hands and Unfortunately, the 90 day extension option is not in the current law and the Supreme Court's 9 to 0 ruling disallows ownership, so… our hands as buyers are tied and until President Trump can change that, we have to abide by the law we will have to.”

However, TikTok countered that “an entity linked to the Chinese government owns 1% of ByteDance subsidiary Douyin Information Service,” adding that the holding has “no relation to ByteDance's global operations outside of China, including TikTok.” According to Reuters.

Popular short video platform It went dark for millions of users The U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday evening upheld a bipartisan law signed by President Biden last spring that required the app's China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform or face a U.S. ban, citing national security concerns.

When briefly blacked out, the app gave a shout-out to Trump, who had previously said he would “probably” give TikTok 90 days from Sunday's deadline after taking office.

PRIVACY GROUPS, EXPERTS, PARENTS SCOTUS BAN TIK TOK, OTHERS CALL DECISION 'ANTI-DEMOCRATIC'.

TikTok on Saturday told users it was no longer available due to the US ban, while President-elect Trump said he was working on a solution. (TikTok / Fox News)

The app returned hours later, but its future remains unclear.

Minutes after the Supreme Court ruling, O'Leary tabled a $20 billion cash offer for the program, arguing that selling it to an American syndicate was an “obvious solution.”

He told Casone that he had no negotiations with ByteDance because of the “golden share”.

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Reuters and FOX Business' Alexandra Koch, Bradford Betz and Landon Mion contributed to this report.