TikTok Takeover Bid in Limbo: US Investor Frank McCourt Awaits Fifth Deadline Extension

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The fate of TikTok’s US operations remains highly uncertain as the Trump administration appears poised to grant a fifth extension to the deadline requiring Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the platform or face a ban.

For the American consortium ready to acquire the video app, the ongoing delays have created a state of limbo.

“We’re just standing by and waiting to see what happens,” billionaire investor Frank McCourt told BBC News. “But if the moment arrives, we’re prepared to move forward… we’ve raised the capital to buy it—we’ll see.”

The popular short-form video app was originally due to be sold or blocked in January, in accordance with a bipartisan law passed by Congress in 2024. Lawmakers cited national security risks stemming from ByteDance’s links to the Chinese government, expressing fears that user data could be forced into Beijing’s hands—a concern TikTok has always denied.

The original deadline has been repeatedly postponed by President Donald Trump, who has previously claimed a deal was imminent and had the blessing of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Those claims proved premature, with a high-level meeting in October failing to produce an agreement.

With no such claims of an imminent deal this time, analysts widely anticipate another extension on Tuesday.

McCourt, the founder of the Project Liberty initiative, is leading a consortium that includes Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary.

The investor voiced his concern about the platform’s ability to shape public opinion, stating he was worried about a “concentration of power and influence because platforms like TikTok are very influencing.”

If successful, McCourt plans to operate the platform without any of its Chinese technology, including its powerful recommendation algorithm, intending instead to use alternative technology developed by Project Liberty to put data control back into the hands of users.