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Frank McCourt's Group, Including Kevin O'Leary, Bids for TikTok's U.S. Assets, Serving 170 Million Users, Without Algorithm

Jan 9, 2025, 07:30 PM

A consortium led by billionaire Frank McCourt, through his organization Project Liberty, has made a formal bid to acquire TikTok's U.S. assets from its parent company ByteDance. The proposal comes ahead of a January 19 deadline, after which TikTok faces a potential ban in the U.S. unless ByteDance divests the platform. The group, which includes 'Shark Tank' investor Kevin O'Leary and is backed by investment firm Guggenheim Securities, as well as technologists and academics including world wide web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, aims to purchase TikTok's U.S. operations, serving about 170 million users, without its current algorithm and plans to rebuild it on American technology, in response to a Chinese export control rule. The financial backing for the bid includes interest from major private equity funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals, as well as debt financing from one of the largest U.S. banks. McCourt expressed optimism about working with ByteDance and President-elect Donald Trump to finalize the deal, emphasizing the goal of keeping the platform operational for millions of American users while enhancing privacy and trust.