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.
The billionaire declined to share details on his sources of financing, but said private equity firms and family offices have reached out.
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.
McCourt wants to build a decentralized version of the internet where individual users, rather than tech companies, own the reams of data spawned by their online lives.
ByteDance has repeatedly stated it has no desire to sell TikTok, yet O’Leary has been persistent in his campaign to buy the U.S. arm of the platform — even without the algorithm in place.
Billionaire Frank McCourt is vying to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations, contingent on maintaining control. Interest from private equity and family offices accompanies his bid. U.S. political backing and the Supreme Court's decision fuel the competitive landscape as bidders anticipate a $20 billion purchase without TikTok's algorithm.
Businessman Frank McCourt is "open-minded" to keeping TikTok's existing investors, including the founder, involved after any deal to buy the U.S. operations of the Chinese-owned short-form video app,
President Donald Trump is in the middle of a chaotic race to secure the future of TikTok in America. Speaking aboard Air Force One en route to Florida on Jan.
Billionaire Frank McCourt says he is open to others joining his bid for U.S. TikTok, January 23, 2025. "If, as things evolve, there are other financial arrangements, we don't need to own 100 percent of TikTok.
TikTok is a huge part of American online culture, with millions of users consuming, posting and sharing content every day. But the app’s future in the U.S. is uncertain. If its parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t agree to a sale, TikTok faces a nationwide ban following the passage of a national security law in April.
Frank McCourt said his Project Liberty consortium, which has bid to buy TikTok, would be comfortable sharing ownership of the app so long as it's hosted on tech developed by his nonprofit.
Frank McCourt is open to partnerships for acquiring TikTok's U.S. operations, prioritizing control over finances. He plans to migrate users to Project Liberty's platform. McCourt's bid, amidst U.S. government's TikTok scrutiny and judicial actions,