Who could buy TikTok to avoid app's ban? Newest name being shared: Elon Musk
As many as 170 million Americans hope video sharing social app TikTok doesn't get banned in the U.S. But a Jan. 19 deadline approaches. Here are some names who could buy TikTok's U.S. operations.
Mike SniderThe latest candidate to become the potential U.S. face of TikTok: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
A ban on TikTok in the United States could go into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19, if Beijing-based parent company ByteDance doesn't sell the video-sharing app's U.S. assets.
President Joe Biden signed a sell-or-ban TikTok bill on national security grounds in April after it was approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, which last week heard ByteDance's challenge to the move, appeared ready to uphold the ban, which arose over concerns that TikTok shares user data with the Chinese government and may manipulate content.
Some lawmakers have proposed legislation to delay the ban while President-elect Donald Trump has promised to "save" TikTok, asking the Supreme Court to delay its enactment to give him time to take office and pursue a political resolution.
Biden could push the ban's deadline by 90 days if he learns that ByteDance is making substantial progress toward a divestiture, Reuters reported.Which leads us to Elon Musk. Chinese officials have discussed Musk investing in or taking control of TikTok's U.S. operations as a way to avoid the ban, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg have reported, citing persons familiar with the situation.
Here's what we know.
Elon Musk at helm of TikTok? Why it could make sense
The world's richest man, Musk also owns X, the social media network previously known as Twitter, and donated more than $250 million to Trump's re-election campaign. Trump could approve of Musk solving the TikTok problem, as he has already named Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to lead his new Department of Government Efficiency task force to cut government spending.
Musk arose in discussion among Chinese officials amid contingency plans for a TikTok ban and larger talks on working with the Trump administration, Bloomberg reported. The tech CEO has often met with Chinese officials and been supportive of the country and its leaders, The Wall Street Journal reported. When asked about the TikTok-Musk rumors, a TikTok representative told the outlet: “We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
Musk and Chinese President Xi Jinping have "a strong relationship," so having Musk oversee the U.S. TikTok operations is "likely one of many options that ByteDance is exploring with the Supreme Court case awaiting final judgment and the January 19th TikTok ban or divest deadline looming," said Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, in an analyst note on Tuesday.
"Given the strong and growing alliance between Trump and Musk, this is not a total shock route as behind the scenes the Trump White House is looking at alternatives if the Supreme Court upholds the ban," Ives wrote.
Taking over TikTok in the US. Here's some candidates
Elon Musk is just the latest name to be associated with a potential TikTok deal to sidestep the U.S. ban. Here's some of the other names tossed around:
Frank McCourt and Kevin O'Leary
Billionaire and former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Frank McCourt in 2021 established Project Liberty, the initiative aimed at decentralizing the internet. McCourt has made a formal offer to ByteDance to acquire TikTok's U.S. assets. The bid, the amount of which hasn't been made public, has been joined by Kevin O'Leary, one of the hosts of the ABC reality series "Shark Tank."
O'Leary, also the chairman of O'Leary Ventures, a capital investment platform, and chairman of Beanstox, an investment service, told Fox Business that he and McCourt would remove any algorithm for spying and pay users who opted to share their data with TikTok.
MrBeast aka James Donaldson
YouTube creator James "Jimmy" Donaldson, more popularly known as MrBeast and host of "Beast Games," has more than 337 million YouTube subscribers and makes $84 million annually, according to Forbes.
Earlier this week, he posted on X, "Okay fine, I'll buy Tik Tok so it doesn't get banned." How serious the remark was remains to be seen.
Subsequently, on Tuesday, he commented on the thread: "Unironically I’ve had so many billionaires reach out to me since I tweeted this, let’s see if we can pull this off."
Bobby Kotick
Kotick, the former CEO of video game publisher Activision, has tossed his name out there in the past and apparently has spoken to ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2024.
Doug McMillon
The Walmart CEO has had its eyes on TikTok before. In 2020 when TikTok was under pressure from Trump – who at the time sought a TikTok ban – Walmart and Microsoft proposed a bid to acquire the U.S. arm of the platform. Walmart also joined a bid with Oracle to take over TikTok's U.S. operations in 2020, but ByteDance got an injunction halting Trump's planned ban and the deal dissolved.
Since then, the Walmart CEO hosted the ByteDance founder in Bentonville, Arkansas in 2023, The New York Post reported, citing sources close to the situation.
Microsoft
Not a face but a major global tech presence, Microsoft could attempt to acquire TikTok – this time without the help of Walmart.
"Should Microsoft make an attempt to buy TikTok again, that might help the company expand its social media footprint, but it could also attract the attention of federal regulators," wrote journalist Chris Morris on Inc.com. "That said, Trump did not object to the buyout when he pushed for a sale of TikTok during his first administration.
Finding a solution to keeping TikTok operational in the U.S. is a worthwhile pursuit, Wedbush Securities' Ives said.
"There is much more at stake here then just TikTok's fate, as the US/China high tension relationships are clearly at play heading into a very important tariff discussion/negotiations for the Trump Administration in the months ahead," Ives wrote.
Contributing: Greta Cross, Jessica Guynn, Bart Jansen, Eric Lagatta and Reuters.
Follow Mike Snider on Threads, Bluesky and X: mikegsnider &@mikegsnider.bsky.social &@mikesnider.
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