MrBeast, Roblox CEO Aim to Acquire TikTok for $20B+

Jimmy Donaldson, famously known as MrBeast on YouTube, has joined forces with a group of investors aiming to purchase TikTok. The group, which includes Jesse Tinsley of Employer.com, Roblox co-founder and CEO David Baszucki, and Nathan McCauley from Anchorage Digital, has reportedly placed a bid of over $20 billion. They estimate that securing TikTok would require an investment of around $25 billion.

Despite their efforts, TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has made it clear that its U.S. operations are not on the market. The investment group led by Tinsley has yet to receive a direct response from ByteDance.

MrBeast's representatives have indicated that he is engaging with multiple parties and is open to aligning with the leading bidder. On January 22, Donaldson expressed his enthusiasm on Twitter, stating, "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."

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

Earlier in the week, U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned that Microsoft was in discussions to acquire TikTok and expressed his desire for a competitive bidding scenario. Microsoft has not yet confirmed these discussions.

TikTok faced a significant challenge when it was taken offline for its 170 million U.S. users just before a law was set to take effect on January 19. This law required ByteDance to sell TikTok due to national security concerns or face a ban. The app went dark after the Supreme Court rejected TikTok's appeal based on First Amendment grounds. The justices noted that while data collection is common, "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."

Following assurances from President Trump that TikTok would not face penalties for restoring service, the app was brought back online. TikTok hailed this as a victory for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship, and committed to working with Trump on a long-term solution to maintain its presence in the U.S.

After taking office on January 20, Trump signed an executive order delaying the enforcement of the law by 75 days. He is currently in discussions with various companies and individuals, including Elon Musk, about potential buyouts of TikTok.