MrBeast, one of most successful Internet creators, may join a bid by real estate mogul and Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt to buy TikTok's U.S. arm, McCourt told Axios' Sara Fischer in Davos Wednesday.
MrBeast himself hasn’t publicly commented on which side he’ll choose yet. “The leading groups who are all credible [sic] bidding on Tik Tok have reached out for us to help them, I’m excited to partner/make this a reality,” he posted on Wednesday.
It’s not clear if TikTok’s owner ByteDance has seriously considered the offer, Bloomberg reported. Others floated as potential buyers include Elon Musk, Amazon, Oracle, and a syndicate headed by billionaire Frank McCourt.
Frank McCourt revealed plans to include Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, in his $20 billion bid to acquire TikTok’s U.S. arm.
Trump says he’s in talks with multiple parties over buying TikTok and will likely have a decision within 30 days to determine the app’s fate. TikTok’s ultimate fate in the United States should be determined in the next 30 days,
The billionaire declined to share details on his sources of financing, but said private equity firms and family offices have reached out.
Jimmy Donaldson - aka MrBeast - was jubilant as he told his tens of millions of TikTok followers about his bid to buy the platform. "I might become you guys' new CEO! I'm super excited!" Donaldson said from a private jet. He then proceeded to promise $10,000 to five random new followers.
The platform is in need of saving in the United States, where approximately 170 million people have TikTok accounts. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law that will ban the platform on Jan. 19 unless TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance divests its U.S. operations.
Content creator Jimmy Donaldson, known on the Internet as MrBeast, has made it clear he is interested in buying TikTok. Donaldson has the most subscribers of any user on YouTube— over 340 million—and boasts over 113 million TikTok followers.
Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty and other investors have submitted a bid to buy TikTok from China-based ByteDance after a court-ordered divestiture or shutdown.
Will TikTok find a U.S. buyer to remain legal? After Trump vowed to make a deal to save the app, MrBeast has emerged as part of a joint bid.
U.S. businessman Frank McCourt is open to teaming up with other buyers on a bid to take over the U.S. operations of TikTok as long as he can maintain control of the asset, he told Reuters at the Davos event on Thursday.