Jimmy Donaldson, widely known as YouTuber MrBeast, is reportedly part of a high-profile investor group aiming to acquire TikTok with a bid exceeding $20 billion. According to Bloomberg, Donaldson has joined forces with Jesse Tinsley, founder of Employer.com, Roblox co-founder and CEO David Baszucki, and Nathan McCauley, head of crypto platform Anchorage Digital, in a coordinated effort to secure ownership of the popular social media platform. The consortium estimates that a successful acquisition could require up to $25 billion.
Despite these ambitions, ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has publicly stated that its U.S. operations are not for sale. The investor group, led by Tinsley, acknowledges they have not yet received a direct response from ByteDance.
Representatives for Donaldson have clarified that while he is actively engaged in discussions with multiple parties, his involvement may shift depending on which bid emerges as the frontrunner. On January 22, Donaldson tweeted: “The leading groups who are all credible bidding on Tik Tok have reached out for us to help them, I’m excited to partner/make this a reality. Big things cooking.”
MrBeast is reportedly committed to the TikTok acquisition effort. Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images.
Earlier in the week, former U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Microsoft was in negotiations to purchase TikTok and expressed hope for a competitive bidding war. Microsoft has not confirmed these statements.
TikTok was temporarily taken offline for its 170 million U.S. users just before a federal law mandated that ByteDance either sell the app on national security grounds or face a ban effective January 19. The shutdown followed the Supreme Court’s rejection of TikTok’s First Amendment challenge. In a unanimous decision, the nine justices recognized widespread data practices in the digital era but emphasized that “TikTok’s scale and susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects, justify differential treatment to address the Government’s national security concerns.”
Service was restored after Trump assured the public that TikTok would not be penalized for resuming operations. TikTok responded, calling it “a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship,” and pledged to collaborate with the President on a long-term solution to keep the platform accessible in the United States.
On January 20, shortly after taking office, Trump signed an executive order to delay enforcement of the divestiture law by 75 days. He is currently in talks with various companies and investors about a potential TikTok buyout and has indicated openness to Elon Musk, owner of X/Twitter, taking control of the platform.
