Jimmy Donaldson – aka MrBeast – he was excited as he told tens of millions of TikTok followers about his offer to buy the platform.
“I might be your new CEO! I’m so excited!” Donaldson said on a private plane. He then proceeds to pay $10,000 to five random new followers.
The internet creator’s post has been viewed more than 73 million times as of Monday. Donaldson said he couldn’t share details about his request, but promised: “Just know, it’s going to be crazy.”
Donaldson is one of many videographers who have expressed interest in buying TikTok, the notorious social media platform that has become an instant political drama in the United States.
Last year, then-President Joe Biden signed a law that gave TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance until January 19 to sell the platform or face a ban in the United States.
The law has addressed concerns about TikTok’s links to the Chinese government and concerns that the app is a national security risk.
President Donald Trump has passed on the opportunity to work together.
“I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position,” he said in a Truth Social post on Sunday. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it [stay up].”
Trump signed an executive order allowing the program to remain in effect for another 75 days.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg report China is considering selling TikTok Elon Muskthe richest man in the world and very close to President Trump, who already owns the social network X.
Musk himself he wrote to X this week that although he has long opposed the ban on TikTok, “the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is not equal. Something needs to change”.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Trump was asked by a reporter if he would be open to Musk buying the stadium.
“I can be if he wants to buy it, yes,” replied the president.
“I’d like Larry to buy it,” Trump said, referring to the Oracle chairman Larry Ellisona longtime Trump supporter who was on stage with him to make a separate announcement.
Oracle is one of the main server providers for TikTok, to manage many data centers where billions of video clips are stored.
Last year, Oracle warned that a ban on TikTok could hurt its business. The cloud computing giant was also a leading contender to buy the social media platform in 2020, back when Trump tried to shut it down.
Billionaire investor Frank McCourt He has also expressed interest in TikTok, and has been doing interviews with the media about this prospect for several months.
McCourt said he wants TikTok to work on technology overseen by the Project Liberty Institute he founded. He has been critical of the data collection practices of telecommunications companies.
Project Liberty is bidding for TikTok without its proprietary algorithm. McCourt he told CNBC this week that Project Liberty is “not interested in the algorithm or Chinese technology” as it acknowledged that the platform is “less valuable” without it.
In the end, President Trump is likely to have a big role in choosing an American consumer for TikTok.
“It will be the winner who is likely to be politically sympathetic to President Donald Trump,” said Professor Anupam Chander, of Georgetown Law School.
Professor Chander said the 50-50 joint ownership model does not meet the requirements of the law, which could prompt Trump to pressure Congress to revise the law.
For now, the future of the platform is still in limbo.
Professor Chander said the Biden administration made an “unforced error” by allowing the law to give the president the power to control who owns TikTok.
“It was a bad idea to put the future of the big information platform in this political mess,” said Prof Chander.
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