MrBeast, Roblox CEO Eye $20B TikTok Acquisition

Jimmy Donaldson, widely recognized as the YouTuber MrBeast, has joined forces with a group of investors aiming to acquire TikTok. The consortium, which includes Jesse Tinsley of Employer.com, Roblox co-founder and CEO David Baszucki, and Nathan McCauley from Anchorage Digital, reportedly plans to bid over $20 billion for the popular social media platform. They believe that securing TikTok could cost up to $25 billion.

Despite their efforts, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has firmly stated that its U.S. business is not for sale. The group led by Tinsley has yet to receive a direct response from ByteDance. Meanwhile, representatives for MrBeast have indicated that he is in discussions with multiple parties and is open to aligning with the leading bidder, suggesting a potential shift in alliances depending on the outcome of these negotiations. On January 22, MrBeast tweeted, "The leading groups who are all credible bidding on TikTok have reached out for us to help them, I’m excited to partner/make this a reality. Big things cooking."

Earlier this week, former U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned that Microsoft was in talks to purchase TikTok and expressed his desire for a bidding war over the app. Microsoft, however, has not confirmed these claims.

Just before a law mandating ByteDance to sell TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban came into effect on January 19, TikTok was temporarily taken offline for its 170 million U.S. users. This followed the Supreme Court's rejection of an appeal after TikTok's First Amendment challenge. The justices noted, "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.”

TikTok was subsequently restored after assurances from Trump that the company would not face penalties for resuming service. TikTok responded, stating, "It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."

Following his inauguration on January 20, Trump signed an executive order to delay the enforcement of the law by 75 days. He is currently in discussions with various companies and individuals about a potential buyout of TikTok, and has expressed openness to Elon Musk, the owner of X/Twitter, taking control.