As of September 19, 2025, TikTok’s U.S. operations have attracted interest from several investor groups and companies. No single buyer has been finalized, but the following are the main parties reportedly involved:
Major Investor Groups & Consortia
1. The People’s Bid for TikTok
- Organizer: Frank McCourt (Project Liberty founder, former LA Dodgers owner)
- Supporters:
- Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder, strategic advisor)
- Kevin O’Leary (Investor, TV personality)
- Tim Berners-Lee (Inventor of the World Wide Web)
- Mission: Prioritize privacy, data control, and open source principles.
2. American Investor Consortium
- Lead: Jesse Tinsley (Employer.com CEO)
- Participants:
- David Baszucki (Roblox co-founder & CEO)
- Nathan McCauley (Anchorage Digital co-founder & CEO)
- Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast, YouTube creator)
- Offer: $30 billion all-cash bid for U.S. operations
Other Interested Companies & Individuals
- Amazon (E-commerce giant)
- AppLovin (Mobile tech, with Steve Wynn backing)
- Bobby Kotick (Former Activision CEO)
- Microsoft (Tech giant, previously interested)
- Oracle (Cloud technology partner, previous bidder)
- Perplexity AI (AI search engine startup)
- Rumble (YouTube alternative)
- Steven Mnuchin (Former U.S. Treasury Secretary)
Current Status
- President Trump announced a deal for TikTok’s U.S. operations to be owned by American investors, with ByteDance retaining a minority stake.
- No single buyer has been officially confirmed as of this date.
Sources: TechCrunch, Mashable, LA Times, September 2025