MrBeast and the CEO of Roblox Are Trying to Buy TikTok for Over $20 Billion

Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as the YouTuber MrBeast, is part of a consortium aiming to purchase TikTok, reportedly 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 the crypto platform Anchorage Digital. The group estimates that acquiring TikTok would require around $25 billion.

Despite their efforts, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has stated that its U.S. business is not on the market. The group led by Tinsley has yet to receive a direct response from ByteDance. Representatives for Donaldson have indicated that he is in discussions with multiple parties and is open to aligning with the leading contender in the bidding process. On January 22, Donaldson 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 negotiations to acquire TikTok, expressing his desire for a bidding war. However, Microsoft has not confirmed these discussions.

Just before a law was set to take effect on January 19, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban, the app was temporarily taken offline for its 170 million U.S. users. This followed the Supreme Court's rejection of TikTok's First Amendment challenge. The justices recognized the commonality of data collection but emphasized, "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 able to resume operations after receiving assurances from Trump that the company would not face penalties for restoring service. TikTok stated at the time, "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."

Upon taking office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order to delay the law's enforcement by 75 days. He is currently in discussions with various entities, including X/Twitter owner Elon Musk, about a potential acquisition of TikTok.