Other potential buyers include the philanthropist Frank Mccourt ’s Project Liberty, which is raising capital to make a bid for TikTok in order to “rearchitect the platform” and protect user data. McCourt is a billionaire who previously owned the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. The project is supported by the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt.

The countdown is on again for a US-based buyer to take on TikTok, as it faces a ban. Euronews Next takes a look at the contenders to take over the app. View on euronews

Content creator Jimmy Donaldson, known on the Internet as MrBeast, has made it clear he is interested in buying TikTok. Donaldson has the most subscribers of any user on YouTube— over 340 million—and boasts over 113 million TikTok followers.

Jimmy Donaldson - aka MrBeast - was jubilant as he told his tens of millions of TikTok followers about his bid to buy the platform. "I might become you guys' new CEO! I'm super excited!" Donaldson said from a private jet. He then proceeded to promise $10,000 to five random new followers.

Amid all the buzz about Chinese officials considering Elon Musk as a potential buyer of TikTok's US operations, YouTuber MrBeast jokingly declared,"Okay fine, I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.

TikTok was only offline for 12 hours in the US before incoming president Donald Trump signalled that he would delay the nationwide ban of the Chinese-owned app. Trump gave a 75 day reprieve for TikTok and its 170 million users after signing an executive order on his first day in office on Monday,

He previously floated a joint venture, saying that the US should be entitled to half of the app.

" With discussions circulating about potential deals, here’s what you need to know about the top contenders to buy and “save” TikTok in the U.S. Listed by Forbes as the world’s richest person, Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk has found his name used widely among those discussing potential TikTok buyers.