Mr Beast enters talks to purchase TikTok however he is not alone in trillion greenback scramble
The billionaire YouTube superpower and the most followed man on the planet, Mr Beast, has entered talks to buy the trillionaire dollar social media platform, TikTok
YouTube billionaire and the most followed man on the planet, Mr Beast – real name Jimmy Donaldson – has reportedly joined the race to buy TikTok.
According to a Bloomberg report, Mr Beast, tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley and Employer.com and others submitted an all cash bid in an attempt to save the social media app. This comes after the newly elected US President, Donald Trump, granted TikTok a 75 day extension to comply with a law that requires a sale of the platform or it it will be banned in the United States.
On Tuesday, the US law firm Paul Hasting announced Jesse Tinsley was a leading investor of the group of “institutional investors and high-net worth individuals”, however Mr Beast was the only member of the group who was publicly named. The amount of the all-cash bid has not been disclosed.
Mr Beast has voiced his interest in buying TikTok in the past. On January 13, the YouTube superpower said: “I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.” He’s since said he’s had conversations with a “bunch of billionaires” about a potential purchase.
Despite the size of bid being unknown Trump placed the value of the app at $1 trillion USD (£811), however it is not clear if TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, have seriously considered the offer or even selling the app.
Other potential buyers in the race include Elon Musk, Amazon, Oracle and a syndicate headed by billionaire investor philanthropist Frank McCourt. At a press conference on Tuesday President Trump noted he was open to Elon Musk making a bid.
In a January 19 tweet on the TikTok Musk said: “I have been against a TikTok ban for a long time, because it goes against freedom of speech. That said, the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change.”
Aside from Musk, Trump has shown interest in Larry Ellison, the multi-billion founder of Oracle and fourth richest person in the world buying the app. At a press conference after commenting if he wanted to see Musk buy the app he said:
“I would be, if he wanted to buy it. I’d like Larry [Ellison] to buy it too.”
Mr Beast has a combined social media following of over 500 million making him the most followed creator on the globe. The YouTube mogul’s net worth is estimated to be around $1 billion making him one of the youngest billionaire’s at only 26 years old.
