Photo: Alamy
“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary announced on Monday that he wants to buy the social media app TikTok, but needs President Donald Trump’s help to make it possible.
O’Leary shared his pitch for the Chinese-owned company during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
“Trump will be who we have to work with to close the deal in the months ahead. So I wanted to let him know, as well as others in his cabinet, that we’re doing this, and we’re going to need their help,” O’Leary said, according to The Wrap.
O’Leary also posted about the effort on X about his plans to buy the social media company alongside former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty.
“This isn’t just about buying TikTok’s U.S. assets. It’s about something much bigger: protecting the privacy of 170 million American users. It’s about empowering creators and small businesses. And it’s about building a platform that prioritizes PEOPLE over algorithms,” O’Leary wrote.
“TikTok has immense potential, not just as a tool for creators but as a driver of meaningful economic and social impact. Together, we’re working to create an American-owned platform that is secure, innovative, and puts YOU in control of your data and digital relationships,” he added.
Trump officially asked the Supreme Court to extend the company’s deadline to divest from ByteDance, its Chinese parent company, RSBN previously reported. The court is currently expected to hear the case on Jan. 10.
In a nonpartisan amicus brief filed on December 27, Trump’s team wrote, “On January 20, 2025, President Trump will assume responsibility for the United States’ national security, foreign policy, and other vital executive functions.”
The brief argues that “this case presents an unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other,” and that as Chief Executive, Trump “is the right constitutional actor to resolve the dispute through political means.”
Trump’s brief points out that he “also has a unique interest in the First Amendment issues raised in the case.”
“Through his historic victory on November 5, 2024, President Trump received a powerful electoral mandate from American voters to protect the free-speech rights of all Americans—including the 170 million Americans who use TikTok,” the brief argues.
