TikTok’s possible buyers, from Elon Musk to MrBeast

The app, which was set to be banned, now has a bit more time to find a buyer and address national security issues

The TikTok app boasts 170 million monthly US users and has become a major driver of culture and politics among young Americans.

TikTok’s Chinese parent company has just over two months to find a buyer for the app’s US business or face a nationwide ban, after getting a time extension from President Donald Trump. There is already competition to own it.

Any purchase would have to satisfy the government’s national security concerns over its owner, ByteDance Ltd, and its ties to China. So far, the company hasn’t been able to solve that problem and has been resistant to being acquired. It’s taken so long to find a solution that the app almost was banned on January 19, per US law. Instead of enforcing the law, Trump issued an executive order delaying the ban and giving ByteDance 75 more days for a sale. “I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” Trump said while signing the order from the Oval Office.