A 3D-printed miniature model of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and TikTok logo are seen on this illustration taken January 19, 2025.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
President Donald Trump wants a U.S. investor to take a significant stake in ByteDance’s TikTok. Several parties are in contention whilst potential buyers face a litany of legal hurdles and barriers.
After stepping in to revive TikTok within the U.S. and delaying a law that may effectively ban the app, Trump is searching for avenues to maintain the favored platform afloat.
He has recommend a proposal for an American stakeholder to purchase the corporate after which sell a 50% stake to the U.S. government, which can jointly run the app together with the private party.
Trump reportedly said Saturday that he was in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok and that he would likely settle on its future in the following 30 days.
So, who’re the likely contenders for one of the vital popular apps within the U.S.?
Elon Musk
Trump has already flagged several major investors inside his inner circle as acceptable buyers, certainly one of which is Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk.
The world’s richest person is leading Trump’s latest Department of Government Efficiency, has close business ties to China and has voiced opposition to the TikTok ban.
Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the Chinese government was considering a plan to have Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, citing anonymous sources. That followed a report from the Wall Street Journal, which claimed TikTok’s CEO had been soliciting advice from Musk ahead of Trump’s inauguration.
CNBC was unable to achieve Musk for comment.
“Elon Musk continues to be front and center as a possible bidder for TikTok which likely includes some tech partners/outside investors to get a deal done,” financial services company Wedbush Securities said in a research note on Wednesday.
“Musk could be hand picked by Beijing and his ironclad relationship with Trump would make this a really logical alternative in our view,” the note added.
Nat Schindler, an analyst at Scotiabank, also noted that Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has demonstrated his interest in global social media platforms.
Nevertheless, Paul Triolo of Albright Stone Group also sees some potential obstacles for the tech tycoon.
“Musk is under fire already for owning X and the perception that he’s using it to advertise certain political ideas, and any involvement in TikTok could draw additional fire and potentially antitrust scrutiny,” he said.
Larry Ellison
Trump has also said he’d “like” to see Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison purchase the platform.
Ellison, a longtime Trump supporter, stood beside the President at a press conference on his AI infrastructure investment plans on Tuesday, where Trump was asked questions on a possible TikTok deal.
“What I’m fascinated about saying to any individual is, buy it, and provides half to the USA of America. Half and we’ll offer you the permit,” Trump said before turning to Ellison to ask if the deal sounded reasonable.
“Feels like an excellent deal to me Mr. President,” Ellison replied.
Ellison and his company are currently at the middle of the TikTok dilemma, operating as a cloud infrastructure provider for ByteDance within the U.S.
Given its existing relationship with Tiktok, Oracle and is “directly invested in Tiktok’s success within the region,” Scotiabank’s Schindler said.
Ellison had bid for Tiktok, together with Walmart, back in 2020 when Trump first pushed for a ban on the platform. Neither company responded to CNBC’s request for comment.
Trump had approved of the Walmart-Oracle deal in principle, which might’ve seen the tech and retail giants partner to take over the video-sharing app within the U.S., avoiding a shutdown. Nevertheless, the Trump administration’s try and ban TikTok within the U.S. fell through within the face of legal challenges.
Ellison later joined a gaggle of investors that helped Elon Musk buy social media platform Twitter, now referred to as X, in 2022.
“[We believe] Oracle/Ellison could play a pivotal role in any deal given their key technology partnership with TikTok and his appearance on the White House with Project Stargate,” Wedbush said.
Wedbush added that it expects a slew of TikTok bids to return over the approaching weeks from a bunch of players with Musk and Ellison leading the pack.
In keeping with a National Public Radio report on Saturday, the Trump administration is working on a plan to save lots of TikTok that may involve Oracle and a gaggle of outdoor investors effectively taking control of it global operations.
Perplexity AI
California-based artificial intelligence search engine startup Perplexity AI submitted a bid for TikTok to ByteDance on Jan. 18, because it seeks to create a latest merged entity combining Perplexity, TikTok U.S. and latest capital partners, CNBC learned.
Following Trump’s comments on a TikTok deal structure, the AI company revised its merger proposal on Sunday to also allow for the U.S. government to come clean with 50% of the brand new company upon future IPO, in line with a proposal document seen by CNBC.
The document proposes ByteDance offer TikTok U.S., without its suggestion algorithm, in exchange for the corporate’s existing investors receiving equity within the merged company.
The deal would reportedly bring more video to Perplexity — recently valued at about $9 billion — because it gains increasing investor interest amid the generative AI boom and competes with OpenAI and Google.
Big players, serious money
Experts flagged several other parties more likely to be concerned with a possible deal for TikTok, adding that the barriers to entry were high.
Given the financial stakes of a TikTok deal, it’s unlikely that some rogue investor goes to swoop in and buy the platform on the low-cost, in line with Albright Stone Group’s Triolo.
“While an up-to-date valuation on TikTok is difficult to give you, it’s more likely to the order of $40-80 billion, meaning whoever decides to leap in needs to be ready with some serious money,” he said.
He added that potential suitors are more likely to include a few of America’s largest social media and technology players, comparable to Meta and Google, along with Musk’s X.
Meta and Google didn’t immediately reply to a CNBC inquiry.
Sarah Kreps, the director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, nevertheless, warned that players comparable to Meta, Google and Musk getting a considerable stake in TikTok could raise antitrust questions.
Scotiabank analyst Nat Schindler noted that there have been also quite a lot of other players, including existing investors BlackRock, Coatue, and General Atlantic, who own a big chunk of TikTok’s parent company. In keeping with him, a few of these investors are more likely to take part in any sale of the U.S. platform by investing in the brand new entity.
“Other large VCs, hedge funds, and asset managers from Tiger to Fidelity would also likely show interest in a quick growing global platform with such an enormous viewer base,” said Schindler, adding that finding investors to own an element of Tiktok won’t be an issue.
MrBeast
The fervor surrounding a purchase order of TikTok U.S. has also seen some unconventional players enter the fray.
Social media superstar MrBeast — real name Jimmy Donaldson — who has greater than 100 million TikTok followers has posted several videos wherein he indicated serious interest in buying the platform, claiming he has had talks with billionaires.
In a single video, the web personality claimed he had an official offer ready, jesting that he is perhaps the brand new TikTok CEO.
Media reports have also mentioned Donaldson and a gaggle of investors preparing to make a bid for TikTok.
On Thursday, Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesperson for Donaldson, told CNBC that “Several potential buyers are in ongoing discussions with Jimmy, but he has no exclusive agreements with any of them.”
‘The People’s Bid for TikTok’
Led by Project Liberty Founder Frank McCourt and involving Canadian businessman and TV personality Kevin O’Leary, “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” has made a $20 billion money offer to purchase TikTok.
O’Leary told CNBC last yr that he desired to buy the platform at a reduction as any possible deal won’t include TikTok’s original algorithm. The organization said it already has a substitute for the algorithm to make use of for TikTok U.S.
Following Trump’s comments on a 50% stake within the platform, each McCourt and O’Leary told CNBC this week that they were concerned with a TikTok deal and were hoping to work with Trump to make it occur.
McCourt has also told CNBC that he wants TikTok to run a decentralized social networking protocol, or DSNP, overseen by the Project Liberty Institute, a nonprofit founded by the billionaire.
Bidding interest aside, quite a lot of legal and tech experts have told CNBC that Trump’s executive order to delay the TikTok ban contradicts the Supreme Court’s earlier ruling to uphold the PAFACA and will face legal opposition.
O’Leary also told CNBC on Monday that a TikTok deal couldn’t occur under the present law, after the Supreme Court upheld an impending ban on TikTok under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, or PAFACA, on Sunday.
Beijing and its pending negotiations with Trump regarding trade with the U.S. can be expected to play a determining consider whether the Chinese government would allow ByteDance to make a divestiture.
“On this game of high stakes poker between the Trump Administration and Beijing it’s clear TikTok is an enormous chip on the table,” Wedush said.
— CNBC’s Hayden Field contributed to this report
Correction: This copy has been updated to repair a quote attribution.
