Many believe the move to be a calculated marketing stunt to gain publicity, rather than a serious acquisition attempt.
However, interest in buying TikTok’s US operations has surged among major corporations and high-profile investors as ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, faces growing pressure to sell its American assets by 19 January.
A law ed by Congress last year requires ByteDance to sell TikTok to a buyer not controlled by a foreign adversary.
The US government cited national security concerns, fearing that TikTok’s data could be accessed by the Chinese Communist Party.
However, President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office Monday, is reportedly considering an executive order to extend ByteDance’s deadline by up to 90 days to secure a buyer.
For any serious buyer, acquiring TikTok, which counts 170 million American s, is expected to cost somewhere between $40bn and $50bn, according to CNBC.
Kick certainly played into the chaos, posting their letter on X with the caption: “Beat you to it @MrBeast.”
This post appeared to reference YouTube personality Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, who recently joked on X about buying TikTok to prevent its ban.
Donaldson later claimed that several billionaires had ed him to discuss orchestrating a purchase.
NEXT.io reached out to Stake.com for comment, but the company declined, fuelling speculation about the seriousness of Kick’s bid.Who hasn’t been rumoured to buy TikTok at this point?
At this point, the list of potential buyers is long.
Rumours have surfaced that ByteDance may sell TikTok’s US operations to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials are considering this move as they navigate their evolving relationship with Trump.
However, ByteDance dismissed the report, telling Forbes it “can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
Additionally, Project Liberty — an internet advocacy group led by billionaire Frank McCourt — submitted a proposal on 9 January to acquire TikTok’s US assets.
Backed by “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary, Guggenheim Securities, and others, Project Liberty aims to restructure TikTok to reduce data collection.
Video-sharing platform Rumble also expressed interest in March 2024, stating its readiness to form a consortium for the purchase, though details remain scarce.
Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has reportedly discussed a potential acquisition with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others, though Kotick has not publicly commented.
With so many deep-pocketed suitors, TikTok’s fate remains up in the air. Whether this ends with a genuine sale or just more viral stunts, remains to be seen.
