Trump claims he has mystery 'group of very wealthy people' in line to buy TikTok
There might finally be a resolution to the long contested TikTok ownership conundrum, as President Trump has now revealed that a mystery group of 'very wealthy people' are waiting in the wings to buy the social media giant.
You'd be forgiven for forgetting that the ownership of TikTok still remains in question after everything that has happened in the first six months of Trump's return to the White House, yet the president remains on the hunt for a buyer with the deadline fast approaching.
A lengthy court case that began in 2020 eventually forced TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the short form video sensation amid national security concerns, with a short-lived ban taking place this year on January 19 after failure to find a buyer.
With Trump's inauguration taking place the day after, however, he took the opportunity to swoop in and remove the ban, extending the deadline by several months.
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This deadline has since been extended once more, now indicating that TikTok has to be sold by September 17, 2025.
Big names like Elon Musk and even social media star MrBeast have been in the conversation to purchase TikTok in various conglomerate takeovers, yet the president has now revealed that we could see an official buyer in the next few weeks.
What has President Trump said about TikTok's buyer?
As reported by the BBC, Trump unveiled in a recent interview with Fox News that he has a group of "very wealthy people" ready to pay up for TikTok, and that he will "tell you in about two weeks."
This process would be contingent on approval from the Chinese government, but Trump believes that President Xi Jinping "will probably do it," despite a previous deal being held up by the China-focused tariffs in April.
It's unclear who the group of buyers will be, but considering the likely high price that it would take to prise TikTok from ByteDance, it would either have to be some of the world's wealthiest individuals or a particularly large group.
As mentioned, Elon Musk was in contention when talks began surrounding a sale - especially as he already has ownership over social media platform X - but the consequences of his departure from government almost definitely rule him out.
Experts estimate that it would take anywhere between $144 billion and $180 billion to purchase the app, and this price likely only continues to grow with the platform's popularity, despite ByteDance remaining in a weak negotiating position.