Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian announced he is joining a U.S. bid to purchase TikTok, serving as a strategic advisor for the acquisition effort. Ohanian is participating in a takeover initiative called “The People’s Bid for TikTok,” launched by real estate and sports magnate Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty.
Kevin O’Leary from the popular reality TV show “Shark Tank” is involved. The group’s bid includes a crowdfunding component aimed at giving individuals and smaller businesses a stake in the future of the popular social media app.
Through a press release, Ohanian said, “I’ve spent my entire career building tech that puts power back in people’s hands—that’s what got me excited about The People’s Bid,” adding, “This isn’t just about TikTok, it’s about fundamentally rewiring how the internet works.”
The Reddit co-founder’s backed initiative to buy TikTok will let people control their data
Project Liberty has promised that users can control and own their data by implementing a custom-made blockchain platform. This is a significant promise, as one of the main arguments to ban TikTok was that its parent company, ByteDance, could jeopardize US national security through the ownership of user data.
Due to these concerns, the app was shut down in the United States on January 18. In February, the video-sharing app resumed its normal services and returned to the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Exciting news for the digital world…
I’m officially now one of the people trying to buy TikTok US — and bring it on-chain.
TikTok has been a game-changer for creators, and it’s future should be built by them↓ pic.twitter.com/SPq1Ppv1kK
— Alexis Ohanian 🗽 (@alexisohanian) March 4, 2025
US President Donald Trump ordered a 75-day delay on the law banning TikTok. The law declares that the app must split from the parent company, ByteDance, or be banned.
The candidates to purchase TikTok
Besides the “The People’s Bid for TikTok“, several other consortiums and companies are interested in purchasing the social media platform. Angelo Zino, a senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, estimates that TikTok’s valuation could be close to $60 billion.
If a deal is agreed upon for that fee, it would surpass the $44 billion Elon Musk paid for Twitter, now known as X, in 2022.
Taking this estimate into account, a few other candidates are reportedly interested in purchasing the platform, taking this estimate into account. Among those interested is the American Investor Consortium. Co-founder of the popular game Roblox, David Baszucki, Nathan McCauley, and Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) are all part of this effort.
Some other interested parties include Microsoft, Perplexity AI, Walmart, and Oracle. Perhaps the most unexpected party interested in buying TikTok is Walmart, given that the retail giant is not usually involved with tech deals.
Despite this, the retail giant first expressed interest in purchasing the platform in 2020.