MrBeast, internet’s top creator, joins new bid to buy TikTok

WASHINGTON – MrBeast, the internet’s most-followed and highest-earning content creator, has joined a new bid to buy TikTok. 

The YouTube star, whose real name is Mr Jimmy Donaldson

, is part of a group of American investors assembled by tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley that is vying to buy TikTok’s US business before a possible ban.

Mr Tinsley, who is founder of Employer.com, has submitted an all-cash bid alongside Mr Donaldson and other “institutional investors and high net worth individuals”, according to a spokesperson for the group, which is being represented by Mr Paul Hastings. The firm declined to provide more details on the offer, including a full list of investors involved. 

Mr Brad Bondi, brother of Ms Pam Bondi, who US President Donald Trump has tapped to run the US Justice Department, is part of the Paul Hastings team providing legal counsel to the investor group. 

“As President Trump re-establishes America’s dominance, our group stands ready to partner with the US government to acquire TikTok and help secure and stabilise the platform for hundreds of millions of Americans to safely enjoy,” Mr Tinsley said in a statement. TikTok and ByteDance did not respond to requests for comment. MrBeast, through his team, did not respond to a request for comment.

MrBeast, with more than 346 million subscribers on YouTube, adds another high-profile name to the mix of interested buyers for TikTok. Mr Tinsley’s group is among several rallying to buy the popular video app after the US Supreme Court upheld a law requiring TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to spin off its US operations over national security concerns. According to the law, ByteDance had to sell TikTok before Jan 19, or face a nationwide ban. 

While TikTok temporarily went offline over the weekend, Mr Trump signed an executive order on Jan 20 – his first day in office – to

extend the deadline for a sale by 75 days

. While it is not clear that Mr Trump has the authority to extend the deadline, it may not ultimately matter. ByteDance has publicly refused to sell TikTok, though prospective buyers hope the Supreme Court’s ruling and the brief TikTok shutdown could push ByteDance to reconsider. 

That prospect has potential bidders lining up. Billionaire Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary made a formal offer to buy TikTok earlier in January. Mr O’Leary has already met with Mr Trump at Mar-a-Lago to discuss the bid, and Mr McCourt has made clear he would be happy to buy TikTok without the service’s coveted content algorithm, which ByteDance and China’s government have said is not for sale.

Amazon and Oracle, both of which already do business with TikTok, have also been floated as possible suitors. After assurances from Mr Trump that he would not enforce the law, Oracle notably helped restore TikTok’s app on Jan 19 after a roughly 14-hour US shutdown even though it could face fines for doing so. The Chinese government has also been evaluating Mr Elon Musk as a potential purchaser, Bloomberg News reported.

It is unclear whether ByteDance has responded to any of the bidders, or whether it is even entertaining them. 

Mr Tinsley wrote in a post on X that he would meet with Trump and his team to discuss the offer, and that he was awaiting a response from ByteDance’s board.

“Our goal is to ensure TikTok stays accessible, thriving, and aligned with the values that make America great,” he wrote. “We also welcome US government investment,” he added, and “are ready to structure the deal in whatever way President Trump and our government wish”.

He said that his company, Employer.com, is part of the investors’ consortium. BLOOMBERG