Jimmy Donaldson – better known online as MrBeast – is not yet in the TikTok bidding race, according to a representative for the YouTube star.
Donaldson sparked interest in an article from January 13 on X saying he would “buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.” The next day, Donaldson added: “Ironically so many billionaires have contacted me since I tweeted this, let’s see if we can make this happen.” »
That seemed all the more certain this week as Donaldson was named in reports linked to a group of investors seeking to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations in an all-cash bid, led by the founder and CEO of Recruiter.com Ventures, Jesse Tinsley. A Monday post on of Tinsley and a Tuesday announcement of Paul Hastings LLP, a law firm that says it advises the group, both identified MrBeast as part of the effort.
But contrary to reports Tuesday night, MrBeast spokesperson Matthew Hiltzik said Donaldson had not officially joined any bids.
“Several buyers have ongoing discussions with Jimmy,” Hiltzik told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “He doesn’t have any exclusivity agreements with any of them.”
Beyond the question of whether Donaldson will be involved, the success of this group’s bid remains to be seen, and the amount of its offer is still unknown. A representative for Tinsley declined to comment when asked for more details Tuesday. The person also did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday on why Donaldson was named by Tinsley as a participant.
The future of TikTok in the United States remains uncertain. Under a federal law upheld by the Supreme Court last week, TikTok was supposed to find an approved buyer for its U.S. operations by Jan. 19, or face a nationwide ban. The platform closed access to US users on Saturday evening, hours before that deadline, but came back online on Sunday with a message crediting new President Donald Trump, who had pledged to block the ban.
Trump said he has a “hot spot” in his heart for TikTok, which he credits with helping him win over more young voters in last year’s presidential election. During his first term, he attempted to ban the platform, calling it a national security threat due to its ties to China.
Shortly after taking office on Monday, Trump ordered the Justice Department to suspend enforcement of the TikTok ban until early April. He also said he was seeking the U.S. government to strike a deal for 50% control of TikTok, adding that “every rich person” had called him about acquiring the social media platform.
On Tuesday, Trump added that he would be open to a buyout of TikTok by Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and tech titan Elon Musk, who contributed about $200 million to a super political action committee that has worked to organize support for Trump last fall. However, Ellison and Musk have not indicated they want to buy TikTok.
Several other investors, such as billionaire Frank McCourt and Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have publicly expressed interest in purchasing the popular app. Artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI has also submitted a proposal to TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to create a new entity merging Perplexity with TikTok’s U.S. operations, according to a person familiar with the matter.
A consortium launched by McCourt offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for the platform, according to “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary, a Canadian investor who also joined the effort. On Tuesday, O’Leary told CNBC that he was still interested in the platform, but believed the law, which required ByteDance to divest by Sunday, would prevent him from doing so.
“What we need is to go back and ask Congress to open up the order and provide for these new options, because they are not planned at this time,” he said, cited by CNBC.
After former President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan TikTok law into law in April, ByteDance said it had no plans to sell the platform and fought the law in court for months. China has also chastised Washington for its divestment campaign, although more recently it appears to have softened its stance.
In media interviews this week, Bill Ford, chairman of global investment firm General Atlantic and a board member of ByteDance, said the company was ready to engage with the Trump administration and the Chinese officials to find a solution to keep TikTok available. Representatives for ByteDance and TikTok did not respond to emails seeking comment.
