Jimmy Donaldson, who is known as MrBeast, is not currently involved in the bid to buy TikTok, as stated by a representative for the YouTube star.
The interest began when Donaldson posted on X on January 13, saying he would “buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.” The following day, he mentioned that many billionaires had contacted him since his tweet, expressing interest in making the deal happen.
Things appeared to be moving forward when Donaldson was mentioned in reports this week. These reports linked him to a group of investors planning to purchase TikTok’s U.S. operations with an all-cash offer. The group is led by Jesse Tinsley, founder and CEO of Recruiter.com Ventures. Tinsley posted on X on Monday, and on Tuesday, Paul Hastings LLP, a law firm advising the group, confirmed that MrBeast was involved.
However, contrary to reports from Tuesday night, MrBeast’s spokesperson Matthew Hiltzik clarified that Donaldson has not officially joined any bids.
“Several buyers are holding ongoing discussions with Jimmy,” Hiltzik told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “He has no exclusive agreements with any of them.”
It is unclear how successful this investor group’s offer will be, and the amount being offered remains unknown. A representative for Tinsley declined to provide further details on Tuesday and did not respond immediately on Wednesday when asked about why Tinsley mentioned MrBeast as part of the effort.
TikTok’s future in the U.S. is uncertain. The platform faced a deadline to find a buyer for its U.S. operations by January 19, or it could face a nationwide ban under a law upheld by the Supreme Court last week. The platform temporarily shut off access for U.S. users on Saturday before the deadline but resumed access on Sunday, crediting then-incoming President Donald Trump, who had promised to delay the ban.
Trump has expressed affection for TikTok
Mentioning that it helped him gain more young voters during the previous year’s presidential election. In his first term, he sought to ban the platform, citing national security concerns due to its ties with China.
After taking office, Trump instructed the Justice Department to pause enforcement of the TikTok ban until early April. He also suggested the U.S. government could help broker a deal for 50% ownership of TikTok, stating that “every rich person” has shown interest in acquiring the app.
On Tuesday, Trump said he would be open to a purchase of TikTok by Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who contributed about $200 million to a political action committee supporting Trump. However, neither Ellison nor Musk has shown any indication that they want to buy TikTok.
Other investors, like billionaire Frank McCourt and Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have publicly shown interest in purchasing TikTok. Perplexity AI, an artificial intelligence startup, has also submitted a proposal to TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to create a new entity combining Perplexity with TikTok’s U.S. operations.
McCourt’s investment group has offered ByteDance $20 billion in cash for the platform. Kevin O’Leary, a Canadian investor from “Shark Tank” who joined McCourt’s effort, said on Tuesday that he’s still interested in acquiring TikTok, but he believes that the law requiring ByteDance to sell by Sunday will prevent the deal.
After the bipartisan TikTok law was signed by former President Joe Biden in April, ByteDance announced that it had no plans to sell TikTok and fought the law in court. China also opposed the law but has recently softened its stance.
Bill Ford, the chairman of General Atlantic, a global investment firm and ByteDance board member, stated this week that the company is ready to work with both the Trump administration and Chinese officials to find a solution to keep TikTok available. Representatives from ByteDance and TikTok did not respond to requests for comment.