Frank McCourt, in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, expressed his willingness to share ownership of TikTok as part of his Project Liberty consortium bid, under the condition that the app is hosted on technology developed by his nonprofit. McCourt stated that he is open to any commercial agreement that complies with the law, including a 50% stake, following President Donald Trump’s suggestion of U.S. ownership in a joint venture with TikTok.
The recent Supreme Court ruling upheld the law mandating ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok or face a ban. Despite the app not being sold by the Sunday deadline, leading to its temporary shutdown for American users, TikTok began restoring services after Trump signed an executive order to delay the ban for 75 days.
McCourt emphasized that Project Liberty’s values and principles are non-negotiable, while being flexible about commercial arrangements. He highlighted the importance of TikTok running on the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), overseen by his nonprofit, to give users control over their data and privacy.
McCourt aims to revolutionize the user experience on TikTok by implementing DSNP, allowing users to own their data and relationships. Project Liberty’s bid excludes TikTok’s core algorithm, focusing solely on the app’s U.S. operations. McCourt acknowledged the algorithm’s significance to TikTok’s success but stressed that Project Liberty is not interested in Chinese technology.
As Project Liberty collaborates with a consortium of investors in the People’s Bid For TikTok, other potential buyers like Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, and YouTube star MrBeast are also considering bids. The uncertainty remains regarding ByteDance’s willingness to sell TikTok and China’s approval of any sale of the app in the U.S.
