Kevin O’Leary Joins Bid to Acquire TikTok Amid US Ban Threat

Kevin O’Leary, widely known for his role as “Mr. Wonderful” on the American series Shark Tank, has announced plans to join billionaire Frank McCourt’s consortium in a high-stakes effort to acquire the popular video platform TikTok. The move comes as the Chinese-owned app faces mounting pressure, with a looming deadline of January 19 for its parent company, ByteDance, to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a potential ban.

In the spring of 2024, President Joe Biden signed legislation mandating that ByteDance sell off TikTok’s U.S. business by January 19, 2025. Failure to comply would result in the removal of the app from U.S. app stores and a ban on accessing it via web browsers. TikTok has challenged the law, asserting that it infringes upon U.S. First Amendment rights and amounts to censorship. However, proponents of the ban argue that TikTok poses a national security threat due to its potential ties with Chinese authorities and concerns over user data sharing.

McCourt, the founder of Project Liberty and executive chairman of McCourt Global, revealed in December that he is assembling a group of investors for the “People’s Bid for TikTok.” The consortium’s goal is to take control of TikTok’s U.S. operations while ensuring that users’ data is protected and returned to them. McCourt claims that verbal commitments of up to $20 billion have already been pledged for the acquisition.

O’Leary, who is now part of the group, shared his views on the effort in an interview with Fox News on Monday. He emphasized that the bid is not only about purchasing TikTok’s U.S. assets but also about safeguarding the privacy of the app’s 170 million American users. “It’s about empowering creators and small businesses. And it’s about building a platform that prioritizes people over algorithms,” O’Leary said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).

The bid may require collaboration with President-elect Donald Trump, who has taken steps to delay the ban and has expressed an interest in preserving TikTok. Trump is seeking a Supreme Court review of the ban, which is scheduled for consideration on Friday, just before he is inaugurated as president the following day.

As the January 19 deadline approaches, the pressure on ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations is mounting. Neither Project Liberty nor O’Leary’s representatives responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.

The outcome of this high-profile bid could have significant implications for TikTok’s future in the U.S., as well as for the broader debate over privacy and national security in the digital age.