The internet has a funny way of turning a casual tweet into a global headline. One minute you're scrolling through your feed, and the next, everyone is asking the same question: is Mr Beast the new CEO of TikTok? It sounds like the plot of one of his high-budget videos. "I bought TikTok and gave it to my subscribers!" Honestly, given his track record of giving away islands and private jets, it’s not the most far-fetched thing we've heard.
But let’s get into the weeds of what’s actually going on. Because while Jimmy Donaldson (the man behind the MrBeast brand) has definitely been making moves in the corporate world, the reality of the TikTok C-suite is a bit more complicated than a viral thumbnail.
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The Viral Rumor: How It All Started
The sparks flew in early 2025. With TikTok facing a looming ban in the United States, the platform's future looked incredibly shaky. On January 14, 2025, Jimmy took to X (formerly Twitter) and dropped a bomb: "Okay fine, I’ll buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned."
Most people laughed. It’s MrBeast, right? He’s the king of the "just kidding... unless?" style of humor. But then things got weirdly serious. He followed up a day later, claiming he’d been flooded with messages from actual billionaires who wanted to back him. Suddenly, the joke felt like a business plan.
He didn't stop there. He posted a video on TikTok itself, standing next to his lawyer, saying, "TikTok, we mean business... we have an offer ready for you." This wasn't just a creator making content; it was a businessman positioning himself as the savior of the platform that houses over 120 million of his followers.
Is Mr Beast the New CEO of TikTok?
Short answer: No. Mr Beast is not the CEO of TikTok. The current CEO of TikTok is Shou Zi Chew. You probably remember him from those intense congressional hearings where he had to explain, repeatedly, that he is Singaporean, not Chinese. As of early 2026, Chew remains the guy at the helm. He’s been the public face of the company’s fight to stay alive in the U.S. market, meeting with top-tier politicians and navigating the complex legal battles that have defined the app's recent history.
So, where did the "CEO" title come from in the rumors? When Jimmy was talking about buying the platform, he mentioned that he would want an "operational" role. In a world where Elon Musk bought Twitter and became the "Chief Twit," fans naturally assumed that if Jimmy’s investor group bought TikTok, he’d be the one sitting in the big chair.
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The Investor Group Reality
Jimmy wasn't trying to buy TikTok with his own pocket change. Even for someone who makes millions per video, TikTok's valuation is in the tens of billions. He was reportedly part of a consortium—a fancy word for a group of rich people—led by Jesse Tinsley, the CEO of Employer.com. This group made a legitimate all-cash bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations.
While the bid was real, it was one of many. Other heavy hitters like Frank McCourt and even tech startups like Perplexity AI were throwing their hats in the ring.
Why People Believed It
It actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Jimmy understands the "TikTok algorithm" better than almost anyone on the planet. He’s the third most followed person on the app. If you’re a group of investors looking to convince the government that TikTok is "American enough" to stay, putting the most popular American creator in charge is a masterstroke of PR.
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Also, Beast Industries (his actual company) recently posted a job opening for a "Head of TikTok." If you only saw the job title on LinkedIn, you might have thought he was hiring someone to run the actual platform. In reality, he was just looking for someone to manage his own brand’s massive presence on the app.
The State of TikTok in 2026
The platform is in a strange spot. After a brief 14-hour outage in early 2025 and a whirlwind of executive orders, TikTok managed to avoid a total shutdown in the U.S. through a series of complex deals involving American-based data security.
Shou Zi Chew is still navigating these waters. He’s been seen at Mar-a-Lago and various high-level summits, constantly lobbying to keep the app operational. Jimmy, meanwhile, is still just the most powerful creator on the platform. He’s a partner to TikTok, not the boss of it.
What Jimmy is actually doing:
- Building a Studio: He’s expanding his Greenville, NC headquarters into a massive creative hub.
- Philanthropy: Continuing his "Beast Philanthropy" projects which are now massive operations on their own.
- Retail: Pushing Feastables and MrBeast Burgers into even more global markets.
- Advising: While he’s not the CEO, he has been an informal consultant for various platforms on how to make short-form video more engaging.
The Bottom Line
While the idea of "CEO MrBeast" makes for a great YouTube title, the boring business truth is that he remains a creator and a potential investor, not the executive director. TikTok is still run by professional corporate executives who spend their days in boardrooms and legal depositions, not filming themselves being buried alive for 50 hours.
If you’re seeing videos or posts claiming he’s taken over, check the date. Most of those are leftover "what-if" scenarios from the bidding war of early 2025.
What you can actually do: If you’re interested in the business side of creators, keep an eye on Beast Industries' official job board. They are constantly hiring for high-level roles that bridge the gap between traditional business and the creator economy. For the latest on the TikTok legal saga, stick to primary business news sources like the Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg, as the "creator news" cycle tends to exaggerate these stories for clicks.
Actionable Insight: Don't get your corporate news from TikTok captions. If a major platform like TikTok changes its CEO, it will be filed with the SEC and reported by every major financial outlet globally. You can verify current executive leadership for any major tech company by checking their official "Newsroom" or "Investor Relations" pages.