- Reid Rasner is the owner of Omnivest Financial
- He ran for U.S senate against John Barrasso
- Promotes Wyoming as perfect place to power TikTok from
According to the New York Post a wealthy entrepreneur from Wyoming has made an offer to buy TikTok for nearly $50 billion.
Reid Rasner, 40, is a businessman who recently ran for U.S. Senate against Senator John Barrasso. He currently heads up a media company that is looking to gain a controlling stake in the app and its operations.
Read more: Is TikTok actually getting banned?
Rasner’s lawyer sent the offer to the current Chinese owners of the online platform, ByteDance.
Rasner’s offer
A letter from Rasner Media counsel Steve Roberts states:
“By establishing TikTok’s operations in Wyoming, Reid will ignite a new era of economic diversification, creating thousands of high-paying jobs that will not only benefit the tech sector but also supercharge Wyoming’s energy, agriculture, and tourism industries.
This initiative will bring high-skilled workers, cutting-edge innovation, and new investment opportunities into the state, strengthening the economy while ensuring Wyoming remains a national leader in multiple sectors.”
It's official. I have put in an offer to purchase TikTok. 🚀 #Rasner4WY #tiktok https://t.co/1A1iNAZXS6
— Reid W. Rasner (@Rasner4WY) February 19, 2025
Read more: AI startup DeepSeek accused of sharing user data with TikTok owner
Rasner, the founder of Omnivest Financial and former owner of Wyoming Glass, also promotes Wyoming’s “abundance of clean, low-cost energy sources” needed to power TikTok, in his letter.
Trump’s plan
In January 2025, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he met with TikTok’s owners and discussed the app’s valuation.
“It’s worth like a trillion dollars,” said the President. “So what I’m thinking about saying to somebody is, ‘Buy it and give half to the United States of America, and we’ll give you the permit,’ and they’ll have a great partner.”
Following the Presidential Inauguration on 20 January, 2025, Trump signed an executive order delaying TikTok’s ban for 75 days. The new President said it would “permit my Administration an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action with respect to TikTok.”
Time is ticking for the 170 million US TikTok users though, as we approach the halfway point of the pause on the ban.
In 2022, Musk completed a $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter, which he has since renamed X, but has ruled himself out of acquiring TikTok. In a video release he said, “I’ve not put in a bid for TikTok and I don’t have any plans for what would I do if I had TikTok”.
TikTok became available to download from app stores again on 14 February, 2025. Apple and Google reinstated the application after receiving assurance from the Trump administration that they would not be penalised for its restoration.
The latest TikTok app is now available to download
— TikTok US (@tiktok_us) February 14, 2025
If TikTok doesn’t find a buyer for its U.S. operations before the end of Trump’s 75-day extension period, it could result in the app being removed from U.S. app stores again and blocking access via internet service providers.
