Popular YouTuber MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) is reportedly part of a consortium aiming to acquire TikTok in a bid exceeding $20 billion. Bloomberg reports Donaldson is collaborating with Jesse Tinsley (founder of Employer.com), Roblox co-founder and CEO David Baszucki, and Nathan McCauley (head of Anchorage Digital) in this endeavor. The group estimates a $25 billion purchase price for the social media giant.

While TikTok's owner, ByteDance, has publicly stated its U.S. operations are not for sale, and the Tinsley-led group acknowledges a lack of direct response, Donaldson's representatives confirm ongoing discussions with various parties. Donaldson aims to join the leading bidder, potentially shifting alliances depending on the unfolding situation. He tweeted on January 22nd, "The leading groups who are all credible bidding on Tik Tok have reached out for us to help them, I’m excited to partner/make this a reality. Big things cooking."

Earlier this week, former U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned Microsoft's purported negotiations to acquire TikTok, expressing hope for a bidding war. Microsoft hasn't confirmed this claim.

TikTok experienced a temporary outage for its 170 million U.S. users shortly before a January 19th deadline mandating either a sale to address national security concerns or a ban by its Chinese owner, ByteDance. The app's brief shutdown followed the Supreme Court's rejection of TikTok's First Amendment appeal. The court acknowledged widespread data collection practices but cited TikTok's scale, susceptibility to foreign control, and the sensitive data it collects as justifying special measures to address national security concerns.

Service was restored after assurances from President Trump that penalties would be avoided. TikTok stated at the time, “It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.” Following his inauguration on January 20th, President Trump signed an executive order delaying enforcement of the law by 75 days. He engaged in discussions with various companies and individuals regarding a potential TikTok buyout, even suggesting X/Twitter owner Elon Musk as a possible acquirer.