MrBeast, Roblox CEO Eye TikTok Acquisition Over $20B

Jimmy Donaldson, widely recognized as the YouTuber MrBeast, is part of an ambitious consortium attempting to purchase TikTok for over $20 billion. This group, as reported by Bloomberg, includes notable figures such as Jesse Tinsley, founder of Employer.com, David Baszucki, co-founder and CEO of Roblox, and Nathan McCauley, head of the crypto platform Anchorage Digital. The collective estimates that acquiring TikTok would require an investment of approximately $25 billion.

Despite their efforts, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has maintained that its U.S. operations are not on the market. The Tinsley-led group has not yet received a direct response from ByteDance. Meanwhile, representatives for Donaldson have indicated his willingness to engage with various parties, potentially aligning with the leading bidder as the situation develops. 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."

The stakes are high, with former U.S. President Donald Trump mentioning that Microsoft was also in talks to buy TikTok, hoping to spark a bidding war. Microsoft, however, has not confirmed these claims.

The urgency of the situation escalated when TikTok was briefly taken offline for its 170 million U.S. users just before a law mandating ByteDance to divest TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban went into effect on January 19. The app was shut down after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal related to 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 brought back online following assurances from Trump that the company would not face penalties for restoring service. TikTok expressed, "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."

After assuming office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order to delay the law's enforcement by 75 days. He is currently in discussions with multiple entities and individuals about a potential buyout of TikTok, including the possibility of Elon Musk, owner of X/Twitter, taking control.

MrBeast is apparently serious in his bid to buy TikTok. Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Gettty Images.