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MrBeast Joins Billionaires in Last-Minute Bid to Buy TikTok

The YouTube star, who has more than 500 million social media followers, says he wants a “seat at the table.”

MrBeast is putting his name in the hat of billionaires fighting to buy TikTok before it’s U.S. death day.

Just two days after he tweeted that he would buy the Chinese-owned company, the content-creator said that he had a meeting with billionaires looking to cut a check for platform.

MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, posted to TikTok on Wednesday pleading with the company to let him save the app.

“Just got out of a meeting with a bunch of billionaires,” Donaldson said in the video. “TikTok, we mean business... we have an offer ready for you, we want to buy the platform. America deserves TikTok. Give me a seat at the table.”

American billionaires across the country are trying to make a deal with the app’s parent company, ByteDance.

The app is expected to immediately shut down on Sunday, Jan. 19, when the federal ban is set to go into effect—unless it works to sell off it’s U.S. assets to an American company.

The Supreme Court still has the power to block the ban, although multiple reports have said that the justices seem to be leaning in the direction of upholding the federal law in question.

Others who have offered to snag the app include Shark Tank billionaire Kevin O’Leary, who said he teamed up with other billionaires to make a deal, and allegedly the world’s richest man Elon Musk, although TikTok denied the latter.

Americans are preparing for the death of TikTok as they scurry to other Chinese-owned apps that mimic TikTok’s social media layout, such as Red Note.

Users were so-so on Donaldson’s plan to buy, and if he could actually pull it off. The YouTuber is known for outlandish giveaways ranging in the millions, and currently has a show with Amazon called Beast Games, where competitors fight for a $5 million prize.

In early 2024, it was reported by Fortune that Donaldson brings in $700 million a year. Frank McCourt, former L.A. Dodgers owner, and his investor group, want to buy the U.S. part of the company for about $20 billion, although the app’s value ranges vastly from opinion-to-opinion.

Amethyst MartinezBreaking News Intern

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