Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian worked with Frank McCourt and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O'Leary to acquire Tiktok from Chinese parent company Bytedance. The group announced on Monday.
Ohanian, a Reddit venture capitalist and Onetime executive chairman, will serve as a “strategic advisor.” McCourt calls the plan to buy Tiktok “people bids” and wants to rebuild the app's algorithms on soil in the US.
“The role of Alexis Ohanian as Project Liberty's strategic advisor and the bidding of people at Tiktok brings incredibly valuable expertise to our initiative,” McCourt said in a statement. “His unique vision and deep personal commitment to user empowerment via social media platforms are perfectly in line with a transformative approach.”
President Trump will need to find a U.S. buyer in Tiktok until April 5th before delaying enforcement of the federal ban on apps. Tiktok went offline temporarily in January after missing the deadline for a full sale on January 19th.
McCourt says his bid will meet US national security concerns about Tiktok. Partly by rebuilding apps on a decentralized blockchain platform called “frequency,” which allows users to control how data is used and monetized.
Ohanian, who is married to tennis superstar Serena Williams, cited the plan as the main reason he decided to board.
“I've built the technology to bring the whole career back to people's hands, and that's why I was excited about people's bidding,” Ohanian said. “This is not just about Tiktok, it's about fundamentally rewiring how the Internet works.”
McCourt and O'Leary filed a bid to buy Tiktok in early January, saying they have at least $20 billion in commitment from investors.
However, as the April 5 deadline approaches, it remains unclear whether bydedance and the Chinese government could cause forced sales.
Apple and Google temporarily suspended Tiktok downloads in response to the Congressional ban, but later restored access after receiving assurances from Trump's U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi that they would not face penalties.
Trump reportedly tapped Vice President JD Vance to oversee potential sales. He also raised the possibility of extending the sales window in some way, but it is unclear whether he has the authority to do so.
Aside from the McCourt-led bid, Trump suggests that Microsoft and Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison could be involved in the Tiktok deal.
X's owner Elon Musk says there are no plans to get involved despite the opposing proposal.
Other bidders include a group led by high-tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley and YouTube star Mrbeast.
As in a post reported last month, a recent national survey showed that 77% of Americans are concerned about the continued Chinese ownership of Tiktok.
With post wire
