Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as the YouTuber MrBeast, is part of a consortium of investors aiming to acquire TikTok. The group, which includes Jesse Tinsley of Employer.com, Roblox co-founder and CEO David Baszucki, and Nathan McCauley from Anchorage Digital, is reportedly preparing a bid exceeding $20 billion. They estimate that securing TikTok could require up to $25 billion.
Despite their efforts, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has stated that its U.S. operations are not on the market. The group led by Tinsley has yet to receive a direct response from ByteDance. Meanwhile, representatives for MrBeast have indicated that he is engaging with multiple parties and is prepared to align with the leading contender in the bidding process. On January 22, Donaldson shared his enthusiasm on Twitter, saying, "The leading groups who are all credible bidding on TikTok have reached out for us to help them, I’m excited to partner/make this a reality. Big things cooking."
This week, former U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned that Microsoft was in negotiations to purchase TikTok, expressing his desire for a competitive bidding environment. However, Microsoft has not yet confirmed these discussions.
TikTok faced a significant disruption for its 170 million U.S. users just before a deadline set by a law demanding that ByteDance sell the app due to national security concerns or face a ban. The app was taken offline after the Supreme Court declined TikTok's appeal against the law, citing First Amendment rights. The justices noted that while data collection is widespread, "TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, justify differential treatment to address the Government’s national security concerns."
Following assurances from Trump, TikTok was able to restore its services without facing immediate penalties. TikTok praised the move as "a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship," and expressed willingness to collaborate with the administration on a long-term solution to keep the platform operational in the U.S.
After taking office, Trump signed an executive order to delay the law's enforcement by 75 days. He continues to engage with various entities, including Elon Musk, the owner of X/Twitter, about potential acquisition scenarios for TikTok.
MrBeast is apparently serious in his bid to buy TikTok. Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images.
