Group Led By Billionaire Frank McCourt Makes Formal Bid To Buy TikTook’s U.S. Assets

An organization founded by billionaire Frank McCourt, the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and its partners on Thursday said they made a formal bid to acquire the U.S. assets of TikTok as the popular social media platform faces a possible nationwide ban later this month.

Project Liberty, an organization that aims to create a more equitable internet and promote the transition to an open data economy, launched The People’s Bid For TikTok last year — a consortium of partners with the aim of purchasing the U.S. operations of the platform from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

“We’ve put forward a proposal to ByteDance to realize Project Liberty’s vision for a reimagined TikTok — one built on an American-made tech stack that puts people first,” McCourt said in a statement. “By keeping the platform alive without relying on the current TikTok algorithm and avoiding a ban, millions of Americans can continue to enjoy the platform.”

“We look forward to working with ByteDance, President-elect [Donald] Trump, and the incoming administration to get this deal done,” he added.

Project Liberty said its plan would involve moving TikTok’s U.S. user base of about 170 million people to “American-built digital infrastructure that is designed to put people back in charge of their data and relationships.”

The organization said it’s uniquely positioned to acquire the platform, in part, because it has the funds required to complete the transaction, “including expressions of interest from investors, including major private equity funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals for adequate equity capital; and debt financing from one of the largest banks in the United States.”

The value of the offer has not been disclosed.

Project Liberty added that it has the support of TikTok creators as well as access to legal and financial advisers with experience in handling such complicated deals.

“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary earlier this week announced he was joining forces with McCourt as part of the People’s Bid For TikTok. O’Leary said he spoke to Trump about the plan during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.

ByteDance, which has previously said it’s not open to a sale, has yet to respond to the proposal.

The offer comes a day ahead of a Supreme Court hearing where justices will hear oral arguments in TikTok’s challenge to the law requiring the company to divest its Chinese ownership or face a nationwide ban on Jan. 19, a day before Trump is set to take office.

Trump has asked the court to stop the ban from taking effect until after he takes office.