By Maria Sole Campinoti and Clare Duffy, CNN
Mr. Beast (James ''Jimmy'' Donaldson) arrives in the paddock during the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix in Las Vegas, United States, on 23 November 2024. Photo: REGINALD MATHALONE
YouTube and TikTok star MrBeast is looking to buy TikTok as part of a group of investors, as a 75-day time limit ticks down for the social media company to find a non-Chinese owner or risk being permanently banned.
"Okay fine, I'll buy Tik Tok so it doesn't get banned," MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, posted on X on 13 January. But while his tone was joking, Donaldson - the single most popular YouTuber and the third-most popular TikToker - was serious, his lawyer told CNN Tuesday.
The bid from Donaldson and a group of investors is just the latest twist in what has been an extraordinary few days for TikTok.
It went dark on Saturday night as a nationwide ban was looming but was back online about 12 hours later, after US President Donald Trump announced he would sign an executive order to delay the ban by 75 days.
Two days after his post on X, Donaldson posted a video on TikTok, where he announced his intention to buy the social media platform.
"I just got out of a meeting with a bunch of billionaires., TikTok we mean business," Mr. Beast said in the video. "This is my lawyer right here, we have an offer ready for you, we want to buy the platform."
The bid comes in response to the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the federal law banning TikTok unless it is sold to a non-China-based company, a spokepserson for the Paul Hastings law firm, which represents the consortium in the bid, told CNN in a statement.
The investor group, which is led by Jesse Tinsley, the founder and CEO of Employer.com, is made up of "institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals," who does not want to see the app go away.
The proposal would not disrupt TikTok's operations and would ensure continuity for its 170 million American users, according to the investor group.
"Our offer represents a win-win solution that preserves this vital platform, while addressing legitimate national security concerns," said Tinsley in a statement. The statement did not disclose the amount of the bid.
CNN has reached out to TikTok for comment.
Time is running out
Talks about a possible TikTok sale to a US-based company have been circulating since 2020, when President Trump, during his first term in the White House, issued an executive order attempting to ban TikTok.
Last week, after the Supreme Court unanimously agreed to uphold a federal law banning TikTok unless ByteDance, its parent company, sells the platform to a non-China-based company.
TikTok went dark on Saturday, as a message on the app read: "Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US Unfortunately, that means you can't use TikTok for now."
The app was back online after Trump announced he would sign an executive order following his inauguration Monday in order to "extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect."
While the executive order, which was signed Monday evening, delays the enforcement of the TikTok ban for 75 days, it does not provide a permanent solution.
ByteDance will either sell to a new buyer-despite stating it has no intention of doing so-or the Trump administration would need to enact a new law to overturn the previous one, an improbable scenario given the strong bipartisan support the existing legislation received in Congress.
TikTok bids coming in hot
Chinese officials have been considering selling at least a portion of the app to tech tycoon Elon Musk, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported. CNN has not independently confirmed the discussions, and both ByteDance and Elon Musk did not respond to CNN's requests for comment.
A group called "The People's Bid for TikTok" which includes Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary and billionaire Frank McCourt, has also offered to buy TikTok.
The People's Bid is backed by investments from Guggenheim Securities as well as world wide web inventor Tim Berners-Lee.
TikTok's US assets, without the algorithm, are estimated to be worth between $40 billion and $50 billion (NZ$70-88 billion), according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.
But since the algorithm may be where much of TikTok's value lies, putting a firm dollar figure on the company is difficult.
McCourt's group is not saying publicly how much it offered, although the billionaire previously indicated he valued the assets at around $20 billion (NZ$35 billion)
"We will refrain from publicly sharing the financial specifics of our offer until ByteDance is in a position to review our proposal," O'Leary and McCourt's group said in a statement last week.
-CNN
