Business

From MrBeast to a Shark Tank host: These are the American companies that could buy TikTok

TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance has until 5 April to sell its popular app or face a ban. These are the potential suitors making overtures.

Greg Heilman

Update: Apr 3rd, 2025 12:15 EDT

The clocking is ticking down to the deadline for ByteDance to sell US operations of its popular social media app TikTok to a “friendly” owner or face a ban in the United States. President Donald Trump must approve one of the tenders put forth by multiple suitors before 5 April or the app will potentially go dark once again for its 170 million US users as it briefly did just before the previous deadline.

Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to delay the ban for 75 days in order to give legal protection to US business partners of the Chinese-owned app and allow more time for negotiations of TikTok’s sale. With the deadline fast approaching there has been a flurry of activity with some 11th-hour bids.

The American companies that could buy TikTok

A number a bids have been tendered including last minute bids from Amazon and another from a consortium led by Tim Stokely, founder of OnlyFans. Here’s are the suitors making overtures to take TikTok’s hand.

Under the terms of the transaction, a group of new outside investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Blackstone and other large private capital firms would own about half of TikTok’s US business, people familiar with the matter said. https://t.co/zN9UV8YC2d pic.twitter.com/MdtY525Bi8
— Financial Times (@FT) April 2, 2025

The People’s Bid for TikTok

Project Liberty, founded by Frank McCourt, and its partners, ’The People’s Bid for TikTok‘, built a consortium to purchase and “fix” TikTok. The project was joined by Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary and together submitted an official bid in January. Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, is also part of The People’s Bid for TikTok effort in the role of strategic advisor.

MrBeast

James “Jimmy” Donaldson, known as MrBeast, joined a bid put forth by a consortium led by the founder of Employer.com, Jesse Tinsley.

Oracle

According to multiple reports the software company Oracle and TikTok’s current US technology partner is one of the top contenders to take over the short-form video platform’s US operations.

Perplexity AI

Artificial intelligence search engine Perplexity made an official proposal to merge with TikTok in January reported CNBC. The deal would allow for a majority of ByteDance’s existing investors to keep their equity stakes in the app.

Amazon shares rose after the NY Times reported that the e-commerce giant made a last-minute offer to buy TikTok in US.

Caroline Hyde has more https://t.co/uDOpHo5FZu pic.twitter.com/UXrkGAagvz
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) April 2, 2025

Amazon

Amazon sent a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday to announce that the e-commerce retail giant was throwing its hat in the ring.

Zoop and Hbar Foundation

The new startup Zoop run by Tim Stokely, founder of the adult content social media site OnlyFans, has joined forces with the Hbar Foundation, a cryptocurrency foundation that facilitates the creation of Web3 communities.

Blackstone

Reuters reports that Blackstone has been discussing acquiring a stake in TikTok. The private equity firm would contribute fresh capitol along with a group of ByteDance’s existing non-Chinese shareholders led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic.

FoundersTok

The CEO of wealth management company Omnivest Financial, billionaire Reid Rasner, has said that he wants to buy TikTok for the American people and not let it be “bought by another corporate fat cat.” He’s offering the chance for people to join as sponsors of his bid by signing up on a website he created called FoundersTok.

Other potential buyers of TikTok

Others have expressed interest in purchasing TikTok but have yet to make a formal bid. These include Bobby Kotick (former CEO of video game company Activision) and Doug McMillon (Walmart CEO) as well as Microsoft and Rumble, a conservative video streaming platform.

Trump has also tossed out the idea that his proposed US sovereign wealth fund could buy TikTok, or at least part of the app, but offered no details. He met with Vice President JD Vance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, national security adviser Mike Waltz, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday in the Oval Office to discuss the offers on the table.