MrBeast – AKA Jimmy Donaldson – was absolutely buzzing as he shared with his massive TikTok following that he’s eyeing a move to take over the platform!
“I might become you guys’ new CEO! I’m super excited!” Donaldson announced, flying high on a private jet. He then made a jaw-dropping offer: $10,000 to five lucky new followers.
The viral post has already racked up over 73 million views since Monday, but Jimmy teased more without giving away the details of his bid: “Just know, it’s gonna be crazy.”
Donaldson isn’t the only one throwing his hat in the ring for TikTok. The app, which has taken the world by storm, is at the center of a fast-paced political storm in the U.S.
Last year, President Joe Biden signed a law that gave TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, until January 19 to sell or face a ban in the U.S. – all thanks to national security concerns about the app’s ties to the Chinese government.
Former President Donald Trump even threw out the idea of a joint venture, saying, “I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position.” He suggested this move would “save TikTok” and keep it alive.
Since then, Trump’s executive order has kept the app running for another 75 days.
But wait – there’s more. Bloomberg recently reported that China might be open to selling TikTok to none other than Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, who also happens to own the social media platform X.
Musk fired back on X this week, stating, “the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China is unbalanced. Something needs to change.”
When asked if he’d be open to Musk buying TikTok, Trump said, “I would be if he wanted to buy it, yes.” He even went on to joke, “I’d like Larry to buy it, too,” referring to Oracle’s Larry Ellison, a long-time Trump supporter.
Oracle, one of TikTok’s major server providers, warned last year that a TikTok ban would hurt its business. The tech giant also made a play for TikTok back in 2020 when Trump first sought to ban it.
Billionaire investor Frank McCourt is also eyeing TikTok and has been vocal about his plans for months. He envisions the platform running on technology from his Project Liberty Institute, which he founded to challenge data collection practices in social media.
Project Liberty, however, is not interested in TikTok’s famous algorithm. McCourt recently acknowledged that the platform would be “worth less” without it.
In the end, it seems President Trump will have the final say in who buys TikTok. “It’s going to be a winner that’s likely to be politically sympathetic to President Donald Trump,” said Georgetown Law Professor Anupam Chander.
Prof. Chander also believes the joint ownership model doesn’t meet legal requirements, possibly pushing Trump to ask Congress for changes.
For now, TikTok’s future hangs in the balance, and Prof. Chander slammed the decision to give such massive control over the platform to political forces. “It was a terrible idea to put the future of a massive information platform into this political maelstrom,” he said.
