Billionaire investor and entrepreneur Frank McCourt is leading a bid to buy TikTok through Project Liberty, an organization he funded with $500 million. The goal of Project Liberty is to create a safer, healthier internet where user data is owned by the users themselves rather than by tech giants like TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. McCourt, who has been critical of tech giants, believes that individuals should have more control, agency, and ownership over their data. Project Liberty plans to work with investment bank Guggenheim Securities and law firm Kirkland & Ellis on the potential TikTok deal.
McCourt, best known for his previous ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has been investing in various sectors such as sports, real estate, technology, and media since selling the team in 2012. He stepped down as CEO of McCourt Global in January 2023 to focus on Project Liberty, which aims to shift users’ accounts to a protocol that gives them more control of their digital identities and data. Despite McCourt’s estimated $1.4 billion in assets, his bid to acquire TikTok faces competition from other tech giants that are the subject of his criticism.
With a background in entrepreneurship dating back five generations, McCourt’s entrepreneurial journey began with his family’s construction business and later shifted to real estate development in the Boston Seaport in the 1980s. Although he unsuccessfully tried to purchase the Boston Red Sox in 2001, McCourt eventually bought the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2004. His controversial tenure as the Dodgers’ owner, which included financial mismanagement, ended with the team filing for bankruptcy in 2011. However, McCourt has since diversified his investments in real estate and sports, including ownership of French soccer club Olympique de Marseille.
McCourt’s concern over user ownership of data led him to establish Project Liberty in 2021, focusing on research, policy advocacy, and technology investments. The organization collaborates with research institutions such as Sciences Po, Georgetown, and Stanford to fund research projects related to data ownership and social media. Project Liberty’s technology arm has developed a Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP) that allows users to own their data across platforms, similar to a phone number tied to a specific user. McCourt has invested in web3-based platform MeWe and led a $27 million funding round in 2022.
While the economic viability of a decentralized protocol remains uncertain, McCourt’s intention to migrate TikTok users’ data to DSNP represents a significant shift for his initiative. It is unclear how much McCourt has already contributed to Project Liberty, how the $500 million commitment will be spent, and whether some funds will go towards a TikTok acquisition. Nevertheless, McCourt views Project Liberty as his legacy for future generations, emphasizing the importance of fighting for user control over data.
