Kevin O'Leary is ready to make a deal to stop the U.S. TikTok ban.
The Shark Tank star has teamed up with other entrepreneurs—including former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt—to lead a bid in purchasing the social media platform from its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance, which has been required by U.S. officials to sell its assets to an American buyer or face a nationwide ban.
However, O'Leary believes he needs help from President-elect Donald Trump to finish the job.
"Trump will be who we have to work with to close the deal in the months ahead," he said during a Jan. 6 appearance on Fox News' The Story with Martha MacCallum, per The Wrap. "So, I wanted to let him know—as well as others in his cabinet—that we're doing this, and we're going to need their help."
As to why O'Leary wants to purchase TikTok?
"This isn't just about buying TikTok's U.S. assets," he wrote in a Jan. 6 message on X, formerly Twitter. "It’s about something much bigger: protecting the privacy of 170 million American users."
The 70-year-old added, "It's about empowering creators and small businesses. And it’s about building a platform that prioritizes PEOPLE over algorithms. TikTok has immense potential, not just as a tool for creators but as a driver of meaningful economic and social impact."
Last year, President Joe Biden signed into law a legislation to remove TikTok from app stores and prohibit internet providers from allowing access to the platform on U.S. browsersif ByteDance cannot sell to an American company by Jan. 19.
The legislation was put in place amid concerns of China possibly using TikTok to spy on U.S. residents.
In the past, O'Leary said TikTok is worth "worth billions" as one of the "most successful advertising platforms in social media today."
"What I'm proposing is purchasing these assets into a new American company," he told Fox & Friends in March 2024. "I'll guarantee it becomes safe for the users, the parents, small business and large business."
Indeed, there's a lot of money to be made on TikTok. Keep reading to find out how much money influencers on the app—as well as other social media platforms—earn.
Lil Tay
The content creator said in an August 2025 Instagram post that she earned over $1 million on OnlyFans in three hours, less than a week after turning 18.
Tay shared a photo of her alleged earnings, in which she earned $1,024,298: $486,558 from messages, $511,003 from subscriptions and $26,736 in tips.
Miriam Ezagui
She shared in June 2025 that a sex toy company once offered her $100,000 to do advertisements for them, which she turned down. The deal would've included two in-feed Instagram posts, two TikTok posts, two Instagram Story posts and two YouTube integrations.
Jimmy "Mr. Beast" Donaldson
The YouTuber—who boasts over 430 million subscribers on the platform—shared that he had become a billionaire "on paper" in February 2025.
However, he explained that he mostly doesn't keep that money for himself.
"In my actual bank account, I have less than a million dollars," he explained during an appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast at the time. "I just like to reinvest it all."
Sophie Rain
The OnlyFans model revealed that she made over $43 million in just one year on the adult subscription platform. In fact, she even shared screenshots of her earnings from November 2023 to November 2024, which included a $4.7 million paycheck from one subscriber alone.
JoJo Siwa
The Dance Moms alum revealed that she made "six digits a month, easy" on YouTube videos as a 13-year-old. She added in the 2024 documentary Child Star that she now posts up to 300 times a day on Snapchat as part of her influencing career.
Chris Olsen
The TikToker revealed he has a net worth of over seven figures.
"You guys can keep calling me annoying," he quipped in a July 2024 video. "Being annoying has made me a millionaire."
Jeffree Star
The makeup artist revealed he earns $50,000 when he hosts a TikTok live—which he does four or five times a week—through selling cosmetics and gifting from fans.
"I'll make bacon in the morning and make $50,000," Jeffree told the Cancelled podcast in November 2024. "There's some times where I don't sell at all, and I'll just make bacon in my kitchen, in my bathrobe, in my little slippers, we'll just hang out and I'll just chat and I'll do a Q&A."
Other times, he's making bank by offering discounts on his own branded makeup products.
"It's a niche market but it's massive," he added. "We're the No. 1 or 2 beauty store."
Lily Phillips
The OnlyFans model—who made headlines in December 2024 for sleeping with 101 men in one day—told E! News that she earns a "good amount" off of creating NSFW content on the subscription-based platform.
As for a ballpark figure, she said, "Oh, we're in the millions."
Markell Washington
Markell—known for his dance videos—told Salary Transparency Street in 2023 that he earns between $500,000 and $700,000 a year, mostly from brand deals and Snapchat's mid-roll program.
Deepti Vempati and Natalie Lee
After appearing on Netflix's dating show Love Is Blind in 2022, the pair pivoted to social media stardom and said they each made $500,000 in less than two years as influencers.
Julia
The ASMR influencer—known as @itsblitzzz on YouTube —admitted in January 2024 that she scores about $56,400 a year on ad revenue from old videos, without creating new content.
She's made over $610,000 in 14 years on the platform in ad revenue alone, with less than a million subscribers.
King Caitlin ASMR
The ASMR creator shared that she made $3,948.05 on TikTok in September 2024 (with nearly 400,000 followers) and $910.95 on YouTube in the same month (with nearly 27,000 subscribers).
Makayla Samountry
The Minnesota YouTuber made over $193,000 on the adult platform OnlyFans from January 2020 to December 2022, she shared in a Medium article.
Morgan Presley
As explained on The Really Good Podcast in 2023, the content creator has scored $50,000 on a single sponsored video.
Gigi Robinson
The chronic illness advocate told Salary Transparency Street in 2023 that she earns about $150,000 a year with less than 40,000 Instagram followers.
Ben Brainard
The comedian charges between $5,000 and $10,000 for a sponsored video, he told Salary Transparency Street.
Kamillah Rae
The YouTuber shared that she made $4,746.94 from monetization on the platform from August 2023 to January 2024 (from a total of 923,700 video views), with under 30,000 subscribers.