A miniature model of Donald Trump's American electrature and the Tiktok logo is seen in this illustration from January 19, 2025.
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President Donald Trump wants an American investor to take a significant stake in Bytedance Tiktok. Several parties are in competition, even as potential buyers face a litany of legal hurdles and barriers.
After entering Bring back Tiktok in the USA By delaying legislation that would effectively ban the app, Trump is looking to keep the popular platform afloat.
He presented a proposal for an American stakeholder to buy the company and then sell 50% of the shares to the US government, which would jointly run the application with a private party.
So who are the likely contenders for one of the most popular apps in the US?
Elon Musk
Trump has already tagged several major investors in his inner circle as acceptable buyers, one of which is Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk.
The richest person in the world leads the new efficiency of the Trump Government Department, has close business ties with China and has Expressed opposition For the Tiktok ban.
Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the Chinese government is considering a plan for Musk to acquire Tiktok's U.S. operations, citing anonymous sources. This was followed by a report from the Wall Street Journal that claimed he was the CEO of Tiktok Committing to advice from musk Before Trump's inauguration.
CNBC was unable to reach Musk for comment.
“Elon Musk continues to be front and center as a potential bidder for Tiktok, which likely includes some technology partners/third-party investors to strike a deal,” Wedbush said in a research note on Wednesday.
“He was hand-selected by Beijing and his Ironclad relationship with Trump would make him, in our opinion, a very logical choice,” the note added.
Nat Schindler, an analyst at Scotiabank, also noted that Musk's acquisition of Twitter demonstrated his interest in global social media platforms. But he also sees potential obstacles for the tech tycoon.
“Musk is already under fire for having X and the belief that it is using it to promote certain political ideas, and any involvement with Tiktok could draw additional fire and potentially antitrust,” Schindler said.
Larry Ellison
Trump also said he would “like” to see Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison buy a platform.
Ellison, longtime Trump supporter, he stood next to the president press conference on his AI infrastructure investment Plans on Tuesday, where Trump was asked questions about a potential Tiktok deal.
“I'm thinking about telling someone, buy it and give half to the United States of America. Half and we'll give you permission,” Trump said, before turning to Ellison to ask whether the deal sounded reasonable.
“Sounds like a good deal, Mr. President,” Ellison replied.
Ellison and his company are currently at the center of the Tiktok dilemma, acting as cloud infrastructure provider BYTETANE IN THE US
Given its existing relationship with Tiktok, Oracle and is “directly invested in Tiktok's success in the region,” Scotiabank's Schindler said.
Ellison offered Tiktok along with Walmartin 2020, when Trump first pushed for a ban on the platform. Neither company responded to CNBC's request for comment.
Trump had approved Essentially a Walmart-Oracle deal that would see the tech and retail giants partner to take over the video-sharing app in the US, avoiding a shutdown. However, Trump's US ban attempt has run into legal challenges in the US.
Ellison later joined the group of investors This helped Elon Musk purchase the social media platform Twitter, now known as X, in 2022.
“(We believe) Oracle/Ellison can play a key role in any deal given their key technology partnership with Tiktok and its appearance in the White House with Project Stargate,” Wedbush said.
Wedbush added that he expects a slew of Tiktok offers to come in the coming weeks from multiple players with Musk and Ellison leading the pack.
BIG players, serious money
In addition to Musk and Ellison, experts tagged several other parties that may be interested in a potential deal for Tiktok, adding that barriers to entry were high.
Given the financial stakes of the Tiktok deal, it's unlikely that some unscrupulous investor would swoop in and buy the platform for cheap, Paul Triolo of Albright Stone Group told CNBC.
“While the current valuation for Tiktok is hard to come up with, it's likely a $40-80 billion order, which means whoever decides to jump in has to be ready with some serious money,” he said.
He added that potential suitors would likely include some of America's social media and technology heavyweights, such as Meta AND GoogleExcept X
Meta and Google did not immediately respond to CNBC's inquiry.
But Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, cautioned that players like Meta, Google and Musk getting a significant stake in Tiktok could raise antitrust questions.
Scotiabank analyst Nat Schindler noted that there were many other players as well, including existing investors BlackrockCoatue and General Atlantic, who own it a large part parent company Tiktok. Some of these investors will likely participate in any sale of the U.S. platform by investing in the new entity, he said.
“Other major VCs, hedge funds and asset managers from Tiger to Fidelity would likely show interest in a rapidly growing global platform with such a huge viewer base,” Schindler said, adding that finding investors to own part of Tiktok would not be a problem.
Mrbeast
The fervor surrounding the Tiktok USA purchase has also seen some unconventional players enter the fray.
Social media superstar Mrbeast – real name Jimmy Donaldson – who has over 100 million Tiktok followers, posted several videos in which he indicated serious interest in buying the platform, claiming to have spoken to billionaires.
In one video, an internet personality claimed he had The official offer is readyHe jokes that he might be the new CEO of Tiktok.
Media reports Donaldson and a group of investors preparing to make an offer on Tiktok were also mentioned.
On Thursday, Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Donaldson, told CNBC that “several potential buyers are in talks with Jimmy but do not have exclusive agreements with any of them.”
'People offer on Tiktok'
Led by Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt and featuring Canadian businessman and television personality Kevin O'Leary, the “people's bid for Tiktok” made a $20 billion cash offer to purchase Tiktok.
O'Leary told CNBC last year that he wanted to Buy the platform at a discount Like every possible offer, it does not include the original Tiktok algorithm. The organization said it already has a replacement algorithm for us to use on tiktok
According to Trump's comments, for a 50% stake in the platform, both McCourt AND O'Leary He told CNBC this week that they were interested in a Tiktok deal and hoped he would work with Trump to make it happen.
McCourt also told CNBC that he wants Tiktok to run a decentralized social networking protocol, or DSNP, overseen by Project Liberty Institute, a nonprofit founded by the billionaire.
Bidding interest aside, multiple legal and technology experts told CNBC that Trump's executive order delaying the Tiktok ban conflicts with the earlier Supreme Court decision to maintain pafac and may face legal opposition.
O'Leary also told CNBC on Monday that the Tiktok deal couldn't happen In accordance with current lawafter the supreme court upheld the impending tiktok ban Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Control Actor Pafaca, on Sunday.
Beijing and its ongoing negotiations with Trump on trade with the U.S. are also expected to play a deciding factor in whether the Chinese government will allow Brzetedanka to divest.
“In this game of High Stakes Poker between the Trump administration and Beijing, it is clear that Tiktok is a big chip on the table,” Wedush said