Who should buy Tik Tok? Who will ultimately buy Tik Tok?

January 27, 2025

Who should buy Tik Tok? Who will ultimately buy Tik Tok?

Meta Platforms (Facebook) should buy Tik Tok. A group of Trump-led investors wil will ultimately buy Tik Tok's operations in the U.S. That is our prediction. We'll see what happens. 

Will Elon Musk prove us wrong? Will Oracle and Microsoft close the deal? Do you really think MrBeast will be the new Tik Tok king. What about that Project Liberty crap? Any chances that Steven Mnuchin, Jared Kushner, and Saudi Arabia end up the long stick? What about the Trump Media & Technology Company?  

Meta should buy Tik Tok US.

Under the direction of greedy smarty pants, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta spent (invested) millions lobbying  the U.S. government to ban Tik Tok in the United States. The legal theory is that Tik Tok is a foreign-owned media company, which is true. The business case was that Mark Zuckerberg was terrified about the incredible popularity of the addictive video sharing social media phenomenon, Tik Tok. In Mark's defense, he had been a visionary and had tried to acquire Musical.ly, the app that evolved into Tik Tok, back in 2016 well before it became the monster menace for Meta. As of now, there have been some speculation about Meta potentially acquiring TikTok, but no verifiable claims. 

Meta is the best suited American company to buy Tik Tok operations in the US. The strategic upside is huge and the downside is manageable. Buying Tik Tok, with or without access to the proprietary algorithm, and of course the corresponding price adjustment (e.g. ~$45 billion without access or $90b with access) could be as successful as Meta's acquisition of Instagram and Whatsapp. Meta's success has been largely driven by acquiring or copying competitors. Although Meta is already successfully copying Tik Tok with Reels, acquiring the U.S. operations would still be a good deal for the American social media giant. Part of the upside, however, would also be the potential downside. Meta would have no serious competition in the U.S. That could get an adverse look from DOJ's antitrust division, depending on Trump's take on Mark. However, Mark has been cuddling to Trump recently, precisely to avoid running into issues with his administration. Overall, it would be a good idea for Meta to acquire Tik Tok's operations in the US with the blessing of the Don, President Trump.

Assuming that Meta doesn't buy Tik Tok, who will buy it? 

Potential Contenders to Acquire Tik Tok in the U.S. Bet on Trump Allies. 

Elon Musk: The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has been mentioned as a potential buyer. President Donald Trump indicated he would be comfortable with Musk acquiring TikTok. However, Musk has publicly opposed the ban, labeling it as "censorship and government control," and has not confirmed any plans to purchase the app. Musk overpaid significantly for Twitter (now X). It is doubtful that Musk will find the guts to burn $50 billion buying Tik Tok US, especially now that Tesla is almost 20% down from its record high with all likelihood of continue deflating in the months to come. 

Oracle and Microsoft: Oracle, in collaboration with a group of investors including Microsoft, is reportedly in discussions to acquire TikTok. Interestingly, Oracle may be looking into acquiring Tik Tok's global operations, not only the operations in the U.S. In this proposed deal, ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, would retain a minority stake, while Oracle would become a majority owner managing aspects such as software, data collection, and of course the famous algorithm. President Trump himself has suggested Larry Ellison as a potential buyer for Tik Tok. We doubt that the deal will ever materialize because the Chinese company is not looking to sell its global operations and is not looking to become e minority stakeholder under an American consortium. The Oracle Tik Tok deal will not materialize. It will not happen. Mark this prediction. 

Project Liberty. Frank McCourt, Kevin O'Leary, and other wannabes have expressed interest acquiring Tik Tok operations in the U.S. through a bid called "The People's Bid for TikTok." O'Leary stated that "$20 billion is on the table. Cash." Project Liberty would aim to migrate TikTok's 170 million U.S. users to the lame Project Liberty platform. This proposal is not going anywhere. Mark this prediction. 

MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson): A prominent content creator with over 340 million YouTube subscribers and 113 million TikTok followers, MrBeast has shown interest in acquiring TikTok. He announced joining a consortium led by Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley, which has made a formal, all-cash offer to purchase TikTok's U.S. operations. The bid amount has not been disclosed. 

Perplexity AI: This AI-powered answer engine has proposed a merger with TikTok, allowing most of ByteDance's existing investors to retain their equity stake. The initial proposal, submitted to ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, on January 18, 2025, suggested creating a new entity combining Perplexity AI and TikTok U.S., allowing ByteDance's existing investors to retain their stakes. In a revised proposal, Perplexity AI has offered the U.S. government the opportunity to own up to a 50% stake in the new company following a future initial public offering (IPO). This move aims to address the U.S. government's concerns regarding Chinese ownership and potential national security risks. This is not going anywhere in our opinion. 

Trump Allies. Steven Mnuchin, Former Treasury Secretary under Trump is reportedly leading an investor consortium interested in acquiring TikTok. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding, led by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal may be one of the investors in this consortium. Jared Kushner may also be involved. Elon Musk may pony up some money and invite some friends. Finally, even Trump himself may get into the action via his Trump Media and Technology Company (Ticker DJT). This is very speculative on our part. Details regarding the extent of this interest and any formal proposals are very limited. We see great potential on this front and will not be surprised at all if this ends up becoming the winning bid for Tik Tok in the U.S.  

The competitive landscape remains fluid and dynamic as various entities explore the potential acquisition of Tik Tok's operations in the U.S. President Trump has expressed optimism about someone reaching a deal soon, noting potential benefits for the future owners and supposedly the U.S. Meta should buy Tik Tok. Ultimately, a group of Trump-led investors will acquire Tik Tok. 

Now you know it. 

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