For a short period this past weekend, TikTok went dark and was then restored throughout the U.S. As the future of the social media platform remains murky, plans for an American entity to purchase TikTok appear to be narrowing in scope.
While several individuals and companies have thrown their hats into the ring with interest, President Donald Trump recently expressed his support of two tech giants: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle. Oracle, a software company, houses most of TikTok’s U.S. servers.
General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford, who sits on the board of directors for ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, told Axios this week that a deal would get done to save TikTok in the U.S.
“We’ll get on with it, as soon as maybe the end of the week in terms of negotiating what might work … The Chinese government, the U.S. government and the company and the board all have to be involved in this conversation,” Ford said.
More:ByteDance director Bill Ford says deal coming to save TikTok in the U.S.
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Musk and Ellison aren’t the only two with their eyes on TikTok though. Here’s who else has expressed interest in purchasing the platform.
Trump proposes 50% US ownership
On Sunday, Trump told supports at a pre-inauguration rally that he’d like to see the U.S. own 50% of TikTok.
“We have no choice. We have to save a lot of jobs,” Trump said at the rally. “We don’t want to give our business to China. We don’t want to give our business to other people.”
Trump said the government wouldn’t be putting up any money, but it would be providing approval for the agreement.
MrBeast joins investor consortium for all-cash bid
A consortium of investors, led by Employer.com founder and CEO Jesse Tinsley announced on Sunday that it made a formal, all-cash offer to purchase TikTok’s U.S. assets.
According to a news release from law firm Paul Hastings, which is providing counsel to the group of investors, James “Jimmy” Donaldson, more commonly known as MrBeast, is a part of this consortium.
The most popular creator on YouTube, Donaldson humorously posted about purchasing the platform the week before the ban. But after the post gained traction, Donaldson posted again that “so many billionaires” had reached out to him. As of Wednesday, the content creator had “New CEO of TikTok?” in his TikTok bio.
Employer.com declined commenting on Donaldson’s reported involvement and MrBeast’s team did not immediately respond for comment about the bid when contacted by USA TODAY on Wednesday. The consortium’s bid has not been shared publicly.
Project Liberty made TikTok bid
Project Liberty, an organization led by former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, made an offer to purchase the U.S. assets of TikTok from ByteDance earlier this month. Project Liberty’s President Tomicah Tillemann said in a statement that the organization would not publicly disclose the bid amount.
The Project Liberty consortium also includes Kevin O’Leary, known as “Mr. Wonderful,” an investor and host of “Shark Tank.”
A potential Perplexity AI merger
Perplexity AI, a U.S.-based search engine, placed a bid on Saturday for ByteDance to merge with TikTok’s U.S. assets, according to Reuters. Rather than a sale, the merger would result in a new entity.
Perplexity AI did not immediately respond for comment when contacted by USA TODAY on Thursday.
Bobby Kotick, former Activision CEO, previously expressed interest in the platform
Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of video game company Activision, is another potential buyer. Kotick previously spoke with ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming about acquiring the platform, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2024. Today, Kotick is the co-chairman of the Call of Duty Endowment, a nonprofit he founded that provides grants to charities that aid veterans.
Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO, may want another shot
Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, also expressed an interest in purchasing TikTok in the past.
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. assets of the platform. However, Trump’s planned ban dissolved and with it, Walmart and Microsoft’s bid.
In 2023, McMillon hosted Yiming in Bentonville, Arkansas, The New York Post reported, citing sources close to the situation. However, neither McMillon nor Walmart has come out and said they’d place a bid more recently.
Could Microsoft make a bid again?
Though Microsoft has not publicly shared interest in purchasing TikTok since its joint bid with Walmart, the tech company could make a bid again, some tech experts believe.
“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,” journalist Chris Morris wrote on Inc.com. “That said, Trump did not object to the buyout when he pushed for a sale of TikTok during his first administration.”
Video streaming platform Rumble previously expressed interest
Rumble, a video streaming platform similar to YouTube and Twitch, offered to purchase TikTok in March 2024, according to a letter shared by Rumble to X.
“Rumble is ready to join a consortium with other parties seeking to acquire and operate TikTok inside the United States,” the letter states. “Specifically, we are ready to serve as a cloud technology partner.”
Neither Rumble nor its CEO Chris Pavlovski disclosed details about the offer.
Why did TikTok go dark?
TikTok was made unavailable for a short period of time between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon following federal legislation that former President Joe Biden signed into law last year. The legislation required ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell the platform by Jan. 19, 2025. If ByteDance failed to do so, TikTok was to become unavailable in the U.S.
Though ByteDance did not divest TikTok in time, President Donald Trump reassured U.S. companies − internet hosting services and app stores − on Sunday, the day before his swearing in, that they would not face repercussions for restoring TikTok.
Then on Monday, Trump issued an executive order aiming to halt the ban for 75 days. However, the legalities of the order remain unclear.
As of Wednesday afternoon, TikTok is accessible via the mobile app and website. However, the platform had not returned to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Contributing: Francesca Chambers, Mike Snider, Sudiksha Kochi
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
