Project Liberty, which is owned by billionaire and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, has made a formal offer to purchase the popular TikTok short form content app from ByteDance ahead of a potential US ban.
The offer was officially announced by Project Liberty on Thursday and comes with a January 19th deadline on the horizon. The deadline is attempting to force ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell the platform or face a ban on grounds of national security.
Project Liberty’s President Tomicah Tillemann said that the price tag would not be publicly disclosed.
“We’ve put forward a proposal to ByteDance to realize Project Liberty’s vision for a reimagined TikTok – one built on an American-made tech stack that puts people first,” Frank McCourt, Founder of Project Liberty said, per the official statement. “By keeping the platform alive without relying on the current TikTok algorithm and avoiding a ban, millions of Americans can continue to enjoy the platform. We look forward to working with ByteDance, President-elect Trump, and the incoming administration to get this deal done.”
“Project Liberty plans to migrate TikTok’s user base to groundbreaking, American-built digital infrastructure that is designed to put people back in charge of their data and relationships”
Additionally, per the announcement:
Project Liberty and its consortium are uniquely positioned to execute this vision with:
- The financial capacity to complete the transaction, including expressions of interest from investors, including major private equity funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals for adequate equity capital; and debt financing from one of the largest banks in the United States
- Support from TikTok creators, who are eager to continue engaging with a platform where they can control their data and determine how their content and information is used; and
- Extensive backing from leading legal and financial advisors with strong experience navigating complex, high-stakes transactions on expedited timelines.
