It feels like every three months we get a fresh wave of headlines about the impending "end" of TikTok. One day it’s a total ban, the next day it’s a forced sale, and by Friday, everyone is back to filming dance trends like nothing happened. But the pressure is real this time. With federal mandates breathing down ByteDance’s neck, the question of who's trying to buy TikTok isn't just a fun "what if" for Silicon Valley—it’s a multi-billion dollar chess game.
The app is basically a money-printing machine. It has more than 170 million users in the U.S. alone. If you’re a billionaire or a massive tech conglomerate, owning that kind of attention span is the ultimate prize. But it’s not just about having the cash. The geopolitical baggage attached to this deal makes it one of the most complicated acquisitions in the history of the internet.
China doesn't want to sell. The U.S. government says it must sell or disappear. And in the middle of this mess, a handful of very wealthy, very ambitious people are checking their bank balances.
The Billionaire Club: Steven Mnuchin and the Private Equity Push
The name that popped up first—and loudest—was Steven Mnuchin. You probably remember him as the former Treasury Secretary, but before that, he was a Goldman Sachs guy and a Hollywood producer. He’s been very vocal about putting together an investor group to snatch up the platform.
Mnuchin’s play is interesting because it’s not about one company taking over. He’s trying to build a syndicate. He told CNBC back in early 2024 that he’s talked to a "bunch of people" about the buyout. The logic? No single American company wants to deal with the antitrust nightmare of owning TikTok alone. If Google or Meta tried to buy it, the Department of Justice would be at their door before the ink dried.
Mnuchin wants to "rebuild" the algorithm in the U.S. That’s the sticking point. ByteDance considers the recommendation engine—the "For You" page secret sauce—to be its crown jewel. Without that code, TikTok is just a hollow shell. Mnuchin thinks he can fix the "security issues" by moving the tech stack to U.S. soil, but whether he can actually get ByteDance to hand over the keys to the algorithm is a whole other story.
Bobby Kotick: The Wildcard from Activision
Then there’s Bobby Kotick. This one caught a lot of people off guard. The former CEO of Activision Blizzard reportedly approached ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming with a proposal. Kotick just finished a massive saga with Microsoft’s acquisition of his own gaming empire, so he’s got the experience (and the connections) to handle high-stakes deals.
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He’s been looking for partners, too. There were rumors he floated the idea to Sam Altman at OpenAI. Imagine a world where TikTok’s video feed is powered or integrated with Sora-level AI. It sounds like a sci-fi movie, but for Kotick, it’s a strategic pivot. He knows how to monetize a massive, obsessive user base.
The problem? Kotick has his own share of PR baggage from his time at Activision. For a platform that already faces scrutiny over its "safety" and "culture," adding a controversial figurehead might not be the PR win the U.S. government is looking for.
Kevin O’Leary and the "Shark Tank" Approach
You can’t have a massive business story without "Mr. Wonderful" weighing in. Kevin O’Leary has been all over the news saying he wants to buy TikTok, but his pitch is a bit more... aggressive.
He’s calling for a "syndicate" starting at a $20 billion to $30 billion valuation. That’s a massive haircut compared to the $100 billion-plus valuations people usually toss around. O’Leary’s argument is that without the algorithm—which China likely won't let leave the country—the platform is worth significantly less.
He wants to turn it into a "transparent" American company. It’s a nice pitch for TV, but whether he actually has the institutional backing to pull off a deal this size is debatable. He’s mostly positioning himself as the face of a potential "American-led" consortium that would strip out the Chinese influence and start fresh.
Why Big Tech is Staying (Mostly) Silent
You might be wondering why Microsoft, Oracle, or Walmart aren't leading the charge this time like they did in 2020. Remember that? Back when Larry Ellison and Walmart were basically the frontrunners?
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Things are different now.
- Antitrust Fatigue: The FTC and DOJ are currently suing almost every major tech company. If Amazon or Google even whispered about buying TikTok, Lina Khan would likely have a heart attack.
- The Algorithm Ban: China updated its export control rules specifically to include "recommendation technologies." This means ByteDance might be legally forbidden by the Chinese government from selling the very thing that makes TikTok valuable.
- The Price Tag: We're talking about a valuation that could exceed $150 billion if you include the global operations. That’s a lot of liquidity, even for the giants.
Oracle is still in the mix as a "technical partner" because they already host TikTok’s U.S. data (Project Texas), but owning it is a different beast. They’d rather be the landlord than the owner.
The Real Power Broker: Frank McCourt
One of the more serious, though less "celebrity," bids comes from Frank McCourt. He’s the billionaire former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He launched "Project Liberty" with a very specific goal: he wants to buy TikTok to fundamentally change how it works.
McCourt isn’t just looking for an ad-revenue machine. He wants to migrate TikTok to a decentralized protocol. His vision is a platform where users actually own their data, moving away from the "surveillance capitalism" model that TikTok currently thrives on.
It’s an ambitious, almost idealistic plan. He has gathered a team of experts and high-level financiers to back the bid. Out of everyone who's trying to buy TikTok, McCourt is the one talking about the "soul" of the internet. It sounds great on paper, but whether TikTok’s 170 million users actually care about decentralized protocols is a massive gamble.
The "China Problem" Nobody Can Solve
Here is the cold, hard truth: ByteDance has repeatedly said they have no intention of selling.
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They are currently fighting the U.S. government in court, arguing that the divestiture law (the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act) is an unconstitutional violation of free speech.
Even if a U.S. buyer like Mnuchin or McCourt puts together $100 billion, they might be buying a car without an engine. If the Chinese government blocks the transfer of the algorithm, the buyer is basically getting a brand name and a list of phone numbers.
You’d have to build a new algorithm from scratch. We saw what happened when Instagram tried to do that with Reels or YouTube with Shorts—it took years to get even close to the "magic" of the TikTok feed. A "new" TikTok might just be... boring. And boring apps die.
The Realistic Outcomes
- The Legal Delay: The most likely scenario is a long, drawn-out court battle that pushes any potential sale into late 2025 or 2026.
- The Spin-off: ByteDance could try to IPO the U.S. entity separately, though the government has signaled this might not satisfy the "foreign control" concerns.
- The Dark Horse: A group of sovereign wealth funds or a massive tech-adjacent company we haven't mentioned yet could swoop in at the last second.
What Happens to Your Account?
If you're a creator or a business owner, this uncertainty is exhausting. Honestly, the most important thing is to realize that "buying" TikTok doesn't mean it stays the same.
If a buyer like Mnuchin takes over, expect more aggressive monetization and possibly a shift toward more "family-friendly" or "vetted" content to appease regulators. If McCourt wins, the app might become a ghost town of technical jargon.
The "who" matters because it dictates the "what." A TikTok owned by a private equity group will look very different from a TikTok owned by a guy who wants to decentralize the web.
Actionable Steps for Creators and Businesses
Since the ownership of TikTok is currently a giant question mark, you shouldn't leave your digital life in their hands. Here is how to hedge your bets:
- Export Your Data: Use the "Download your data" feature in TikTok settings. This gives you a backup of your captions, history, and profile info. It won't save your videos in high-res without watermarks, though.
- The "Watermark-Free" Archive: Start using tools like SnapTik or Repurpose.io to save your videos without the TikTok logo. If the app disappears or changes ownership and ruins the reach, you’ll want those files ready for Reels or YouTube Shorts.
- Build the "Off-Ramp": If you have 10k followers on TikTok but 0 email subscribers, you don't own your audience—ByteDance does. Use a link-in-bio tool to drive people to a newsletter or a platform you actually control.
- Watch the Court Dates: Don't panic every time a "Ban TikTok" video goes viral. Watch the actual filings in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. That’s where the real "who" and "when" will be decided.
The battle for TikTok is about more than just an app. It’s a fight over who controls the most influential cultural engine of the 21st century. Whether it’s a billionaire, a former politician, or a tech visionary, whoever wins will have the power to shape the public discourse for a generation. Or, they might just buy a very expensive, very broken piece of software. Only time—and the courts—will tell.