“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary has joined a group of business leaders who have put in a bid to buy TikTok, Quartz reports.
Billionaire Frank McCourt formed The People’s Bid for TikTok, in partnership with his nonprofit organization, Project Liberty. On Thursday, the pair delivered their proposal to TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
The consortium, which did not disclose the value of the proposal, said the financial capacity to complete the deal includes investors — among them major private equity funds, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals — as well as debt financing from one of the largest banks in the United States.
The plan includes migrating TikTok’s database of 170 million monthly U.S. users to a data center in the United States. Project Liberty maintains that this will put users’ data privacy at the fore and minimize interruptions during the transition.
“I’ve spoken to all the potential bidders, and it’s clear to me that Frank McCourt and Project Liberty are the team to get this done,” O’Leary said in a statement Thursday. “This is the bid that can save TikTok. Project Liberty has brought together the right people, the right vision, and the right technology to avoid a ban. It is a win for all Americans.”
McCourt added: “By keeping the platform alive without relying on the current TikTok algorithm and avoiding the ban, millions of Americas can continue to enjoy the platform. We look forward to working with ByteDance, President-elect Trump, and the incoming administration to get this deal done.”
President Joe Biden signed a law in April calling for ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American company by Jan. 19, 2025 or be banned in the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the potential ban last month.
Beginning Friday, the Supreme Court will begin hearing challenges to the case, and will have little over a week to render a decision.
The TikTok case is considered one of the most significant of the social media age, as it involves free speech, national security, and a popular social media platform used by nearly half of Americans. TikTok has argued that the law violates its free speech rights under the First Amendment.
President-elect Donald Trump last month asked the Supreme Court to pause the ban, which takes effect just before he is sworn into office on January 20.
“President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture, and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office,” said Trump solicitor general nominee John Sauer in an amicus brief.