In an all-cash offer to acquire the US operations of ByteDance-owned social media platform, TikTok, popular YouTuber star MrBeast, also known as Jimmy Donaldson, has teamed up with Jesse Tinsley to get the deal done.
The bid was made public by US law firm Paul Hastings, which highlighted Tinsley’s leadership of a group of investors, of which Donaldson is the only one who is publicly named.
The firm announced Donaldson’s bid in a statement on Wednesday in which it disclosed that Tinsley was leading an investor group comprising “institutional investors and high-net worth individuals’’.
MrBeast has floated his interest in acquiring TikTok in a number of social media posts, writing on X on 13 January: “I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.” In a subsequent TikTok post Donaldson said he had been talking to a “bunch of billionaires” about a bid.
READ ALSO: Jeff Bezos-backed Perplexity AI tables $50bn proposal to merge with TikTok U.S
This comes two days after Perplexity AI, a conversational search engine that uses large language models backed by tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, offered a $50 billion proposal to merge with TikTok U.S.
The proposed deal, which is estimated to be worth over $50 billion, would improve Perplexity’s video capabilities while preserving ByteDance investors’ interests.
Elon Musk’s X is reportedly a serious candidate for a deal, particularly in light of talks to extend TikTok’s deadline for completing a U.S. agreement.