Billionaire Frank McCourt announced on Monday that Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and a venture capitalist, has joined his bid to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Ohanian, an internet pioneer, founded Reddit with his University of Virginia roommate. He sold the platform to Conde Nast in 2006, later returning in 2014 as executive chairman to lead its turnaround. His investment portfolio includes tech companies such as Instacart, Patreon, and OpenSea.
“He has that broad portfolio of experience — of where social media was and a keen understanding of where it’s evolving,” McCourt said.
Ohanian will support McCourt’s “Project Liberty” bid to purchase TikTok’s U.S. assets. Dubbed “The People’s Bid,” the project aims to run the app on technology designed to give users control over how their data is used and shared.
Expressing his enthusiasm, Ohanian said he was excited to work on the project and empower people to have more control over their data.
McCourt and his partners submitted their bid for TikTok in early January, responding to a looming deadline that would require ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to sell the app’s U.S. operations or face a ban.
TikTok briefly shut down in the U.S. on January 19, just hours before the ban was set to take effect, but resumed operations after President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to delay enforcement. Trump granted a 75-day extension and tasked Vice President JD Vance with overseeing the sale process.
The bid for TikTok’s U.S. arm has attracted interest from a wide range of investors across finance, technology, and entertainment. Other bidders include a group led by tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley, featuring YouTube star MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) and Wyoming businessman Reid Rasner.
McCourt said he has provided the White House with detailed information about his bid, covering financing strategies, technological plans, and national security considerations.
However, he noted that ByteDance has remained only “lightly” engaged in the sale process. According to McCourt, the company has not yet hired a banker, outlined the assets for sale, or established a valuation. He acknowledged the possibility that ByteDance might choose to shut down TikTok in the U.S. rather than sell it.
