MrBeast and the CEO of Roblox Are Trying to Buy TikTok for Over $20 Billion

MrBeast, the popular YouTuber, is reportedly part of a consortium attempting a $20 billion+ bid to acquire TikTok. This investor group, including MrBeast, Jesse Tinsley (Employer.com founder), Roblox CEO David Baszucki, and Nathan McCauley (Anchorage Digital head), estimates the acquisition will require $25 billion.

Bloomberg reported on this ambitious bid, though TikTok's owner, ByteDance, has publicly stated its U.S. operations are not for sale, and the Tinsley-led group hasn't received a direct response.

MrBeast's representatives clarified that he's engaged in discussions with multiple parties and aims to join the leading bidder, potentially shifting allegiances depending on the unfolding situation. In a January 22nd tweet, MrBeast expressed his excitement about the prospect, stating, "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 President Trump mentioned Microsoft's purported negotiations to acquire TikTok and expressed his hope for a bidding war. Microsoft hasn't yet verified this claim.

The preceding events followed a temporary shutdown of TikTok for its 170 million U.S. users. This occurred just before a deadline (January 19th) mandating either a sale by ByteDance (due to national security concerns) or a complete ban. The temporary outage resulted from the Supreme Court's rejection of TikTok's First Amendment challenge. While acknowledging the prevalence of data collection in the digital age, the Court cited TikTok's scale, susceptibility to foreign influence, and the sensitive data it collects as justification for the government's national security concerns.

Service was restored following assurances from President Trump that penalties would be avoided. TikTok described this as a victory for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship, committing to collaborate with the President on a long-term solution to maintain its U.S. presence.

Upon assuming office on January 20th, President Biden signed an executive order delaying enforcement of the law by 75 days. He's reportedly engaged in discussions with various entities and individuals regarding a potential TikTok buyout, including Elon Musk.