Billionaire Frank McCourt is vying to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations, contingent on maintaining control. Interest from private equity and family offices accompanies his bid. U.S. political backing and the Supreme Court's decision fuel the competitive landscape as bidders anticipate a $20 billion purchase without TikTok's algorithm.

MrBeast, one of most successful Internet creators, may join a bid by real estate mogul and Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt to buy TikTok's U.S. arm, McCourt told Axios' Sara Fischer in Davos Wednesday.

McCourt wants to build a decentralized version of the internet where individual users, rather than tech companies, own the reams of data spawned by their online lives.

ByteDance has repeatedly stated it has no desire to sell TikTok, yet O’Leary has been persistent in his campaign to buy the U.S. arm of the platform — even without the algorithm in place.

Businessman Frank McCourt is "open-minded" to keeping TikTok's existing investors, including the founder, involved after any deal to buy the U.S. operations of the Chinese-owned short-form video app,

TikTok is a huge part of American online culture, with millions of users consuming, posting and sharing content every day. But the app’s future in the U.S. is uncertain. If its parent company, ByteDance, doesn’t agree to a sale, TikTok faces a nationwide ban following the passage of a national security law in April.