Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Billionaire Frank McCourt Assembles Consortium to Acquire TikTok
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 months ago on
May 15, 2024

Billionaire Frank McCourt is forming a consortium to bid for TikTok's U.S. operations, aiming to enhance user control over data, amid investor interest and ongoing legal challenges against a federal mandate for ByteDance to divest the platform. (AP File/GV Wire Composite)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Frank McCourt said he’s putting together a consortium to purchase TikTok’s U.S. business, adding to the number of investors hoping to benefit from a new federal law that requires TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the popular platform or face a ban.

The announcement, made Wednesday, said the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers was organizing the bid in consultation with the investment bank Guggenheim Securities and “with the goal of placing people and data empowerment at the center of the platform’s design and purpose.”

If a sale occurs, McCourt said he would plan to restructure TikTok and give more agency to people “over their digital identities and data” by migrating the platform to an open-source protocol that allows for more transparency.

Other investors, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have expressed a desire to purchase TikTok. However, parent company ByteDance has already said it does not plan to sell the platform. The Chinese government is also unlikely to approve a sale – especially not one that includes the recommendation engine that powers the videos that populates users’ feeds.

TikToker Lawsuit

Last week, ByteDance and TikTok filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government to block the law from going into effect. On Tuesday, eight TikTok creators filed their own challenge, arguing the law violates their First Amendment rights to free speech.

The company also has been waging a legal battle in Montana to block a state law that would ban the video-sharing platform.

On Tuesday, TikTok, Montana users and the state of Montana agreed to put a stay on a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Montana’s first-in-the-nation ban while the federal lawsuits are decided.

Montana’s law, which was temporarily blocked before it could take effect on Jan. 1, would be nullified if a company that is not based in a country designated as a foreign adversary acquires TikTok.

McCourt is worth $1.4 billion, according to Forbes. He sold the Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012 to Guggenheim Baseball Management. In 2016, he bought the French soccer club Marseille.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Italian Grandmothers Can Teach You About Healthy Eating

DON'T MISS

CA Has Seen Many New Towns, but This Big Project Is Stalled

DON'T MISS

Kern County Farmland Values Continue Downward Slide

DON'T MISS

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

DON'T MISS

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

DON'T MISS

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

DON'T MISS

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

DON'T MISS

The Many Names of GOP Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance

DON'T MISS

‘Fed Up’ Dyer, Councilmembers Unveil Plan to Crack Down on Street Campers

UP NEXT

Kern County Farmland Values Continue Downward Slide

UP NEXT

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

UP NEXT

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

UP NEXT

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

UP NEXT

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

UP NEXT

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

UP NEXT

The Many Names of GOP Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance

UP NEXT

‘Fed Up’ Dyer, Councilmembers Unveil Plan to Crack Down on Street Campers

UP NEXT

House Republicans Slam Trump’s ‘Worst Choice’ for VP Pick JD Vance

UP NEXT

Companies Cut Prices to Boost Sales, Consumers Respond

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

12 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

12 hours ago

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

13 hours ago

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

13 hours ago

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

14 hours ago

The Many Names of GOP Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance

14 hours ago

‘Fed Up’ Dyer, Councilmembers Unveil Plan to Crack Down on Street Campers

14 hours ago

House Republicans Slam Trump’s ‘Worst Choice’ for VP Pick JD Vance

14 hours ago

Companies Cut Prices to Boost Sales, Consumers Respond

15 hours ago

Stay Cool, Fresno!

15 hours ago

What Italian Grandmothers Can Teach You About Healthy Eating

Fresh ingredients. Meals made from scratch. Enough food for the whole family. All seasoned with the most important ingredient: A healthy dos...

7 mins ago

7 mins ago

What Italian Grandmothers Can Teach You About Healthy Eating

47 mins ago

CA Has Seen Many New Towns, but This Big Project Is Stalled

47 mins ago

Kern County Farmland Values Continue Downward Slide

12 hours ago

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

12 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

13 hours ago

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

13 hours ago

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

14 hours ago

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend