MrBeast claims to have been contacted by “many billionaires” to buy the social network Tiktok, which risks being banned in the United States from January 19.
Some might have thought it was a joke. This Tuesday, January 14, the number one content creator on Youtube MrBeast expressed his intention to buy Tiktok, which risks being banned from January 19 in the United States.
“Ok, very good, I will buy Tiktok so that it is not banned,” declared the influencer to the 343 million subscribers on X, ex-Twitter. A message viewed more than 19 million times.
Indeed, last April, Congress voted by a large majority a text opening the door to a possible ban on Tiktok, long accused by Washington of being under the supervision of Beijingwhich would use it to spy and manipulate its 170 million users in the United States. Bytedance, the parent company of Tiktok, therefore has until January 19 to find a buyer. Otherwise, the platform will be banned on American soil.
“It promises to be interesting”
If the first message seems to have been posted in a humorous tone, MrBeast reaffirmed a few hours later its desire to buy the short video platform, explaining that it had been contacted by “many billionaires”. However, no names have been revealed.
“Ironically, many billionaires have contacted me since I tweeted here, let’s see if we can make this happen,” he added.
An announcement greeted with enthusiasm by its community. “I believe in Jimmy [Jimmy Donaldson, le vrai nom de MrBeast, ndlr] to steer Tiktok in a creator-friendly direction,” one user points out. “Keep us posted on what’s happening. It promises to be interesting,” adds another.
But MrBreast is far from being the only one on the list of potential buyers who could buy Tiktok. Selon BloombergElon Musk is currently in discussions with China for this. Information quickly denied by Tiktok itself, even calling it “pure fiction”.
The most serious candidate for takeover seems to be Franck McCourt, owner of Olympique de Marseille. The billionaire has reportedly made a formal offer to Bytedance to buy Tiktok’s US assets.
