Frank McCourt, billionaire real estate mogul and former Los Angeles Dodgers owner, mull bid to buy TikTok

Frank McCourt, a real estate billionaire and former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is organizing a bid to purchase TikTok through his initiative, Project Liberty. This move comes as TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, faces a potential U.S. ban if it does not sell the app within the next year. McCourt aims to transform TikTok by implementing an open-source protocol, focusing on user data empowerment and privacy.

Supporting McCourt's bid, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, advocates for an internet where users control their data. This acquisition is seen as a chance to challenge the current tech model and promote digital sovereignty and mental health. The bid faces competition from other interested parties, including former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Meanwhile, TikTok and ByteDance are challenging the new law mandating the sale, arguing it infringes on First Amendment rights.