Alexis Ohanian, Reddit Co-Founder, Joins TikTok Acquisition Attempt

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Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian at the FII Priority Summit in Miami Beach, Florida, on Feb. 20, 2025.

Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, is joining Frank McCourt’s effort to purchase TikTok as a strategic advisor.

Project Liberty, McCourt’s organization focused on internet advocacy, announced this week that Ohanian, an investor and spouse of tennis icon Serena Williams, has joined “The People’s Bid for TikTok” group.

“I am now officially part of the group attempting to acquire TikTok US—and integrate it on-chain,” Ohanian stated in a , referring to a decentralized platform based on blockchain technology. Project Liberty intends to utilize this platform to give users greater authority over their online data.

Project Liberty stated that if their bid is successful, the technology “will form the basis of the redesigned TikTok, ensuring that privacy, security, and digital independence are fundamental, not optional.” When an X user inquired on Monday about a potential new name for TikTok if he were to buy it, Ohanian responded: “TikTok: Freedom Edition.”

According to a federal law passed with bipartisan support and signed by former President Joe Biden last year, TikTok was mandated to sever ties with its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a ban by January 19.

In one of his initial executive orders signed in January, President Donald Trump extended the deadline for TikTok to secure new ownership until early April.

McCourt’s consortium—which includes Shark Tank personality Kevin O’Leary—has already made a $20 billion cash offer to ByteDance for the U.S. platform. Some analysts suggest TikTok could be worth significantly more, even without its valuable algorithm, which McCourt has stated he is not interested in.

Trump mentioned in January that Microsoft is among the U.S. companies considering acquiring TikTok. Other potential buyers include the AI startup Perplexity AI, which has proposed merging with TikTok’s U.S. platform and granting the U.S. government a stake in the new entity. Jesse Tinsley, founder of the payroll firm Employer.com, has also expressed interest. Tinsley stated that a consortium he assembled—including the CEO of the video game platform Roblox—is offering ByteDance over $30 billion for TikTok.