Billionaire Frank McCourt Wants to Buy TikTok; Here’s His Plan 

This week on the StrictlyVC Download, hosts Connie Loizos and Alex Gove explore the intersection of technology, power and the future of the internet with billionaire investor and philanthropist Frank McCourt. McCourt used to make headlines as the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers; now, he’s making waves with his ambitious efforts to reshape the digital world, which could involve buying one of the most influential platforms on Earth: TikTok.

It’s a tall order. While pressure is mounting on TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the platform amid escalating U.S. government scrutiny, ByteDance claims it is not for sale. In fact, TikTok is still trying to get courts to overturn the law that Congress passed and that President Joe Biden signed back in April that requires ByteDance to shut down or sell TikTok’s U.S. operations by January 19.

In the meantime, McCourt is positioning himself as a key player in the conversation, and his interest isn’t just about taking over a social media giant. McCourt is also the founder of Project Liberty, a $500 million initiative aimed at overhauling the internet by putting control back in the hands of users, rather than tech giants. Decentralizing social networking is at the project’s core, a goal Project Liberty aims to achieve via an open-source Internet protocol.

It’s a nice idea. It also seems improbable. Either way, we enjoy delving into McCourt’s bold plans to reshape the internet, his potential acquisition of TikTok, and talking with him about why he thinks his vision could radically change the way we interact with social media in the future.