Tim Stokely, founder of the adult content platform OnlyFans, has submitted an eleventh-hour proposal to buy TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese owner ByteDance.
The “intent to bid” was made by Zoop—a social media startup Stokely cofounded with RJ Phillips, who has a background in influencer marketing strategy—and cryptocurrency company The Hbar Foundation. For Zoop, the bid “represents a David vs. Goliath moment against traditional social media giants by endorsing a creator-first revolution,” according to a statement the company shared with WIRED. They said they want to put power back in the hands of creators through better revenue sharing.
ByteDance is up against the clock. If the company does not agree to a proposal from a US buyer by April 5, TikTok will be banned in the US under a law that went into effect in January citing national security concerns.
“The process is actually very unique, it’s being run by the White House and not by ByteDance,” Phillips tells WIRED, declining to comment further on the particulars of how the Zoop bid came about. “Our external council found the right person for us to initiate conversations with and that’s what we’ve done.” Stokely did not respond to a request for comment.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump was scheduled to consider multiple offers during a closed-door Oval Office meeting with Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, who are spearheading the sale. His plan to keep TikTok operating in the US was reportedly going to be announced late that day, according to The Information.
The US government’s concerns around TikTok purportedly stem from fears that the Chinese government could access Americans’ data. But partnering with Hbar could potentially work in Zoop’s favor; the company’s statement says Hbar operates the Hedera network, “a secure, transparent, and enterprise-grade public ledger” blockchain technology based in the US.
Stokely and Phillips are perhaps the most surprising of the suitors gunning for control of the popular video app.
“We’ve been looking at social for a long time given our past. We want to restructure the industry in a way that we think is equitable,” Phillips tells WIRED, brushing away speculation that Zoop’s offer came together at the last minute. “Creators bring eyeballs to the pages and therefore they should be the ones sharing in the lionshare of the ad revenue. Users that are engaging with that content should also be the ones benefitting.”
Amazon also put in a last-minute offer to buy TikTok this week, joining four other groups that the White House was considering for the sale of TikTok’s US operations, according to Reuters. According to the New York Times, the Amazon bid is not being taken seriously. One of the other possible deals floating around, per the Times, includes bringing on a team of US investors that includes Larry Ellison’s Oracle and private equity firm Blackstone.
There is also the possibility that an American investment team purchases TikTok while ByteDance retains ownership of TikTok’s algorithm and leases it to the prospective buyer. China has given no indication that it would be willing to sell the app’s algorithm and exporting that type of technology would require its sign-off as part of a host of restrictions introduced in 2020.
Phillips says they are invested in building platforms that truly prioritize creators.
“Tech platforms for businesses like this should merely be the facilitator for creators. Creators have a hard enough time making steady income,” he says. “For us it’s always going to focus on creators first, and not on shareholders first.”
We will soon know whether or not the Trump administration aligns with that vision.
