Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has joined Frank McCourt’s bid to acquire TikTok’s US operations as a strategic advisor.
McCourt’s Project Liberty bid confirmed the development on Monday (March 3), adding tech industry cloud to a bid that seeks to “rebuild the platform in a way that prioritizes the privacy of 170 million Americans.”
The bid comes as TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance faces continued pressure to sell the platform before the end of President Donald Trump’s 75-day extension of a deadline for ByteDance to divest its US TikTok operations or face a ban in the country.
McCourt, who formerly owned the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced what he calls “The People’s Bid” for ByteDance in May 2024. The bid was formally submitted on January 9. Financial terms of the offer were not disclosed.
Alexis Ohanian brings social media expertise to the bid, co-founding Reddit in 2005 and selling it to Vogue and Vanity Fair owner Condé Nast in 2006. He returned as executive chairman in 2014 to lead a turnaround before departing again in 2020. That same year, he launched Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies.
“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,” said Ohanian.
“This isn’t just about TikTok, it’s about fundamentally rewiring how the internet works.”
Alexis Ohanian
McCourt’s Project Liberty proposal is focused on implementing “Frequency,” a blockchain-based platform that aims to give users ownership of their personal data while addressing the national security concerns that have made TikTok a target for potential US restriction.
“This isn’t just about TikTok, it’s about fundamentally rewiring how the internet works. Frequency aims to reimagine social media so everyone actually owns and controls their own data. I’m stoked to team up with Frank and the Project Liberty crew to make this happen on a revitalized TikTok,” Ohanian said.
“Alexis Ohanian’s role as Strategic Advisor for Project Liberty and The People’s Bid for TikTok brings invaluable expertise to our initiative. His unique vision and deep personal commitment to user empowerment through social media platforms align perfectly with our transformative approach,” McCourt said.
“His endorsement of Frequency underscores its potential to redefine the internet. We are excited to have him on board as we work to usher in a new and better chapter for TikTok, and turn the momentum created from The People’s Bid into building The People’s Internet.”
Founded in 2019, Project Liberty’s bid for TikTok is backed by Guggenheim Securities, the investment banking and capital markets business of Guggenheim Partners, and law firm Kirkland & Ellis.
Project Liberty says the bid has attracted support from leaders in the finance, policy and technology sectors including Sheila Warren, the inaugural CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation.
However, the bid faces challenges as McCourt says ByteDance is only “lightly” engaged in the sale process. He said ByteDance may elect to shut down TikTok in the US rather than sell it.
Competition for TikTok’s US business has intensified in recent months. Other bidders include a consortium led by tech entrepreneur Jesse Tinsley, which counts YouTube personality Jimmy Donaldson (known as MrBeast) and Wyoming businessman Reid Rasner among its backers.
In February, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, said he has no plans to buy TikTok, telling a virtual conference about his preference for building companies from scratch rather than acquiring existing ones.
TikTok still faces pressure to sell its US operation or risk being banned in the US following a law signed by former US President Joe Biden last year.
TikTok briefly went offline for 14 hours on January 19 when the US’s divest-or-ban law, signed by President Joe Biden, took effect. But the platform came back online after Trump signed an executive order delaying enforcement of the law by 75 days, creating a new April 5 deadline.
Trump said in late January that he was in talks with several parties regarding the purchase of TikTok. NPR reported, citing two sources, that the Trump administration is in talks with Oracle over a plan to save TikTok by tapping the software company and other outside investors — including Microsoft — to acquire the app’s global operations. However, neither of the companies have publicly commented on the matter.
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