American billionaire businessman Frank McCourt is spearheading efforts to acquire TikTok and fundamentally overhaul its business model, Reuters reported.
McCourt, known for his former ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers, revealed he has secured verbal funding commitments of $20 billion from a group of investors aiming to resolve the Chinese-owned app’s uncertain future in the United States.
McCourt’s proposal involves a significant transformation of TikTok’s revenue strategy. His plan would shift the platform away from ad-centric monetization, empowering users to control the types of ads and content they see. In the long term, TikTok would generate income through e-commerce and by licensing user-consented data for artificial intelligence training models.
“When you give permission for your data to be used and you receive compensation, it’s flipping this 180 degrees and giving the user the power,” McCourt said.
The initiative would also move TikTok’s technology onto an open-source protocol developed by Project Liberty, an organization founded by McCourt. This would allow users greater control over their data and enable them to transfer it seamlessly across the internet.
The bid comes as TikTok faces a Supreme Court decision on a law signed by President Joe Biden that could force its U.S. operations to be sold due to national security concerns. If upheld, the app could face a ban in the United States by January 19 unless ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, complies.
McCourt’s acquisition strategy excludes TikTok’s powerful content recommendation algorithm, sidestepping potential complications with ByteDance and China’s export-control regulations, which require administrative approval for such technology transfers.
Despite TikTok’s insistence that it cannot separate from ByteDance, McCourt believes a Supreme Court ruling against the app could open the door to negotiations.
McCourt and his team have reportedly had preliminary discussions with members of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. Trump, who attempted to ban TikTok in 2020, recently softened his stance, stating he has “a warm spot in my heart for TikTok.”
The acquisition team is also actively seeking a CEO for a reimagined TikTok. Sources suggest V. Pappas, TikTok’s former chief operating officer, was approached, though McCourt declined to disclose specific candidates.
“This is both a big project to scale the technology that we’ve built and a vision for a better internet,” McCourt said. “We’re talking to people who share that vision and have the capacity and skills to do both.”
McCourt’s bid for TikTok is not just about resolving its immediate legal challenges but also about implementing his broader vision for a decentralized and user-centric internet. While significant hurdles remain, his proposal represents a bold reimagining of the platform’s future as it navigates geopolitical and regulatory pressures.
