TikTok’s US sale stalls despite readiness from investors

• Billionaire investor Frank McCourt says his group is ready to acquire TikTok’s US operations.
• TikTok was ordered to divest its US operations under a 2024 law over national security concerns.
• The proposed US TikTok company was previously valued at $14bn under Trump’s executive order.

A billionaire investor seeking to acquire TikTok’s US operations has said he remains in limbo amid ongoing uncertainty over the app’s US operations.

Frank McCourt, founder of Project Liberty, told the BBC that his investor group is ready to move forward but has been left waiting as the US government continues to delay the requirement for TikTok to sell its US operations.

“We’re just standing by waiting to see what happens,” McCourt said, adding that his consortium has already raised the capital needed to complete a deal.

He also expressed concerns about the influence of major platforms: “My hope would be that whatever happens, that it is shut down or sold, and lands in the hands of people that comply with the law.”

TikTok was ordered to divest its US operations under legislation passed by Congress in 2024, due to national security concerns over its Chinese owner, ByteDance, and its potential to share data on American users - something TikTok has denied.

The law was signed by then-President Joe Biden and upheld by the Supreme Court earlier this year. 

TikTok sale in limbo

President Donald Trump has delayed proceedings numerous times already, although his administration previously claimed a deal had been agreed with US and international investors, approved by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump signed an executive order stating that selling TikTok’s US business to American and global investors would meet the law’s national security requirements.

The new US-based company would be valued at around $14bn and would operate under enhanced data security safeguards. 

No final agreement has yet been announced, and uncertainty continues over the app’s future in the US.