YouTube and TikTok sensation MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is looking to purchase TikTok as part of a group of investors. This comes as the social media platform faces a 75-day deadline to find a non-Chinese owner or face being permanently banned.
On January 13, MrBeast posted on X, jokingly stating, “Okay fine, I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.” However, despite the lighthearted tone, his lawyer confirmed that Donaldson was serious about the offer.
This move is part of a larger series of developments surrounding TikTok. The app briefly went offline on Saturday night when a nationwide ban was imminent but returned just 12 hours later after former President Donald Trump signed an executive order delaying the ban for 75 days.
Following up on his earlier post, MrBeast shared a TikTok video, revealing that he had met with a group of billionaires to discuss the purchase. “TikTok, we mean business,” he said in the video, introducing his lawyer and stating that they were ready with an offer to buy the platform.
The bid is in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling that TikTok must be sold to a non-China-based company. The investment group leading the offer is headed by Jesse Tinsley, founder and CEO of Employer.com, and includes institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals who want to ensure the app stays operational.
According to the investor group, the proposal would not interfere with TikTok’s day-to-day operations, ensuring that its 170 million American users can continue using the platform. The group also emphasized that their offer aims to address national security concerns while preserving the platform. However, the details of the bid amount have not been disclosed.
Time is Running Out
Discussions about the potential sale of TikTok to a U.S.-based company have been ongoing since 2020, when President Trump, during his first term, issued an executive order attempting to ban the app.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously to uphold a federal law that would ban TikTok unless ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, sells the platform to a non-China-based entity.
On Saturday, TikTok went offline with a message reading: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.” The app returned online after Trump announced that he would sign an executive order on Monday to delay the enforcement of the ban.
The executive order, signed Monday evening, postpones the TikTok ban for 75 days, but it does not offer a permanent solution. ByteDance faces the option of selling the app to a new buyer—though it has stated that it does not intend to do so—or the Trump administration would need to pass a new law to reverse the previous one. Given the bipartisan support the law has received in Congress, this scenario seems unlikely.
TikTok Bids Coming In Hot
Chinese officials have been exploring the possibility of selling a portion of TikTok to tech mogul Elon Musk, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. However, these discussions have not been independently verified, and neither ByteDance nor Elon Musk have responded to inquiries for comment.
In addition, a group called “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” which includes Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary and billionaire Frank McCourt, has made an offer to purchase the platform. The bid is supported by investments from Guggenheim Securities and Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web.
TikTok’s U.S. assets, excluding the algorithm, are estimated to be worth between $40 billion and $50 billion, according to Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. However, since the algorithm is considered to be a significant part of TikTok’s value, assigning a definitive dollar value to the company remains challenging.
McCourt’s group has not disclosed the financial details of their offer, though the billionaire has previously suggested that he valued the assets at around $20 billion. The group stated that they would not share further financial details until ByteDance is ready to review their proposal.
