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.
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.
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.
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.
A board member at TikTok’s parent company said that a deal to save the app from disappearing in the United States will be done soon.
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,
Billionaire Frank McCourt remains open to partnering with other buyers in acquiring TikTok's U.S. operations, but insists on maintaining control. McCourt's Project Liberty submitted a bid without including TikTok's algorithm,
The Supreme Court is set to hear opening arguments in ByteDance’s case to block a sale.
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.
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.