Pro-Trump Billionaire Reid Rasner Makes $47B Bid to Buy TikTok for ‘the American People’
America First billionaire entrepreneur Reid Rasner has reportedly made an offer to buy TikTok from China for a whopping $47.45 billion.
Rasner, a pro-Trump Republican former Senate candidate, asserted that he wants to buy the video-sharing platform to benefit “the American people.”
The CEO of wealth management company Omnivest Financial has reportedly made his offer to Chinese company ByteDance, which owns TikTok.
Rasner told NBC News that President Donald Trump’s administration had already reviewed his offer.
The Trump admin is “prepared to move forward” with the offer in an effort to bring the popular short-video platform under American control.
“I think they’re taking it very seriously, from what it sounds like,” Rasner said last week.
“There’s no holding back.
“The money isn’t the issue right now; bringing all the pieces together is the issue.”
Rasner ran for a U.S. Senate seat in 2024 in his home state of Wyoming.
However, he ended up losing a primary to fellow Republican incumbent Senator John Barrasso by about 45,000 votes.
Barrasso won re-election with a massive victory in November and garnered over 75% of the vote.
On his campaign website, Rasner categorized himself as “America First.”
Rasner opposed “globalist policies” while championing values such as “hard work, self-reliance, and a commitment to freedom.”
Under Rasner’s proposed plan, TikTok would allow investment tiers for Americans to buy into the platform as “founding members.”
The increments start from $280 per year and go up to $12,000 per year.
The investments provide perks like boosts to reach and verification badges.
A similar method for procuring investments (with rewards) was used by the social media platform Minds when it was launched in 2015.
However, the entrepreneur stated that “TikTok will always be free” for regular users.
But if enterprises or large corporations want to use TikTok, they can pay to “go viral more often.”
Rasner also reportedly wants to move TikTok’s headquarters to his home state of Wyoming.
The HQ is currently in Los Angeles and Singapore.
The billionaire went on to claim that the potential acquisition “is about the American people.”
“This is about bringing TikTok to America. I’m going to fight for that day in and day out,” Rasner added.
Trump recently commented on the potential acquisition from ByteDance.
The president believes it will be completed before his April 5 deadline.
“We have a lot of potential buyers,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
“There’s tremendous interest in TikTok,” the president added, Reuters reported.
“I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
Rasner reportedly has not heard back from ByteDance about his offer.
He noted that “negotiations are complex.”
The CEO’s team has hired global acquisitions firm Goodwin Procter to help with the offer, NBC reported.
