Billionaire Businessman Frank McCourt Threw His Hat in the Ring to Buy TikTok

Although the deadline for TikTok to be sold to a U.S. buyer continues to receive extensions, the fact remains that Donald Trump wants TikTok to be sold to reportedly protect the privacy of users. But is billionaire businessman Frank McCourt buying TikTok? That's the rumor after he made multiple comments about forking over billions of dollars to ByteDance for the short-form video app.

In May 2025, Trump told NBC News that he would consider extending the TikTok sale deadline once more after June 19 if needed. He explained at the time that the app will be "strongly protected." He added, "If it needs an extension, I would be willing to give it an extension." But, extension or not, one of Trump's executive orders requires U.S.-based investors to keep the app available in the U.S.

In May 2024, well before Trump even took office for a second term and announced plans to try and force ByteDance to sell TikTok, McCourt said he had an interest in buying the app himself. According to a PR Newswire press release at the time, McCourt announced that through his company Project Liberty, he wanted to buy TikTok.

"By bringing leading academics, technologists, behavioral scientists, psychologists and economic experts together with community partners, parents and citizens, we believe we can preserve – and enhance – the TikTok experience by giving individuals and creators on the platform the value and control they deserve regarding who has access to their data and how it is used," he said at the time.

In January 2025, Fortune reported that McCourt valued TikTok at around $20 billion. However, it's not clear if that's the amount he is willing to pay for ownership of the app in the U.S. At the time, McCourt and other investors involved in the internet advocacy company Project Liberty made an offer to buy TikTok. But as of June 2025, no one has publicly purchased the app from ByteDance.

McCourt and his team of investors aren't the only ones who have pushed to make a formal bid for TikTok. According to The New York Times, in April 2025, Amazon put in a bid to purchase the app ahead of one of the previous deadlines. YouTube star MrBeast also voiced interest in placing a bid to buy the app.

Wyoming politician Reid Rasner, CEO of Omnivest Financial, publicly spoke about his own bid with a group of investors. Cowboy State Daily reported in early June 2025 that Rasner said his group came up with $47.45 billion and offered a minority stake in TikTok for ByteDance to retain some small part of the app.

Surprisingly, Elon Musk, Trump's former right-hand man, has said that he does not intend to put in a bid for TikTok. In January 2025, he spoke out on the subject, and claimed that he doesn't even use TikTok.

"I'm not chomping at the bit to acquire TikTok," he said at the time, per Reuters. "I do not acquire companies in general, it's quite rare."