Kevin O’Leary, famed for his role as “Mr Wonderful” on the American series Shark Tank, has revealed plans to join billionaire Frank McCourt’s consortium in a high-stakes effort to acquire TikTok.
The move comes amid growing pressure on the Chinese-owned video platform, which could be banned in the United States if its parent company ByteDance fails to divest the app by 19 January.
Last spring, President Joe Biden signed into law measures compelling ByteDance to sell off TikTok’s US operations by this month’s deadline or face a ban—removing the app from American app stores and disabling access via web browsers. TikTok has challenged the legislation, arguing it represents censorship and breaches US First Amendment rights. However, supporters of the ban claim the platform poses a potential national security threat by sharing data with Chinese authorities.
McCourt, founder of Project Liberty and executive chairman of McCourt Global, announced in December that he was assembling a group of backers—named the “People’s Bid for TikTok”. Project Liberty’s primary goal is to hand control of users’ data back to the users themselves. According to McCourt, verbal commitments of up to $20 billion have already been pledged for the takeover.
O’Leary told Fox News on Monday that he and McCourt would need to collaborate with President-elect Donald Trump to complete any deal, particularly as Trump has asked the Supreme Court to delay the ban so he can try to salvage the platform. The Supreme Court is scheduled to review the ban on Friday, and Trump will be sworn into office the day after the deadline.
“This isn’t just about buying TikTok’s US assets,” O’Leary said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s about something much bigger: protecting the privacy of 170 million American users. It’s about empowering creators and small businesses. And it’s about building a platform that prioritises people over algorithms.”
Neither Project Liberty nor Kevin O’Leary responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.
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Kevin O’leary joins billionaire’s bid to buy TikTok as US ban deadline nears