MrBeast Leads Investor Bid to Buy TikTok Amid US Ban Threat

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — YouTube and TikTok star MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is leading a group of investors in a bid to buy TikTok as the social media platform faces a potential U.S. ban unless it is sold to a non-China-based company within 75 days.

Donaldson, the most-subscribed individual YouTuber and third-most-followed TikToker, announced his intention to buy the platform in a January 13 post on X, formerly Twitter. While his tone appeared lighthearted, his lawyer confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that the bid is serious.

The investor group, led by Jesse Tinsley, founder and CEO of Employer.com, includes institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. The consortium aims to preserve TikTok’s operations for its 170 million American users while addressing national security concerns raised by the U.S. government.

“Our offer represents a win-win solution that preserves this vital platform, while addressing legitimate national security concerns,” Tinsley said in a statement. The group did not disclose the financial terms of the bid.

The move comes after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform to a non-China-based entity or face a nationwide ban. TikTok briefly went offline on Saturday night before returning 12 hours later when President Donald Trump announced he would sign an executive order delaying the ban by 75 days.

Donaldson reiterated his commitment to the bid in a TikTok video posted two days after his initial announcement. “I just got out of a meeting with a bunch of billionaires. TikTok, we mean business,” he said in the video, accompanied by his lawyer. “We have an offer ready for you, we want to buy the platform.”

Talks of a TikTok sale have circulated since 2020, when Trump first attempted to ban the app during his presidency. Last week, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law mandating ByteDance to divest TikTok, citing national security risks tied to its Chinese ownership.

Other groups have also expressed interest in acquiring TikTok. A consortium called “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” backed by Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary and billionaire Frank McCourt, has submitted an offer. The group, supported by Guggenheim Securities and Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has not disclosed its financial terms either.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives estimates TikTok’s U.S. assets, excluding its algorithm, to be worth between $40 billion and $50 billion. However, the algorithm, which drives TikTok’s content recommendations, is considered a significant portion of its value, making a precise valuation challenging.

McCourt’s group has reportedly valued TikTok’s assets at around $20 billion but has refrained from publicly sharing financial details. “We will refrain from publicly sharing the financial specifics of our offer until ByteDance is in a position to review our proposal,” the group said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have reportedly considered selling at least a portion of TikTok to tech billionaire Elon Musk, according to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. CNN has not independently confirmed these discussions, and neither ByteDance nor Musk has commented on the matter.

As the 75-day deadline approaches, ByteDance faces a critical decision: sell TikTok to a U.S.-based buyer or risk losing access to its American user base. The outcome will have significant implications for the future of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms.