Executive Order Paves Way for New U.S.-Led Joint Venture; Oracle, Silver Lake to be Key Investors.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday approving a deal to keep TikTok’s U.S. operations from being banned, a transaction that Vice President JD Vance said values the business at $14 billion. The move satisfies a national security law that required TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operations.
Under the terms of the deal, which still requires approval from the Chinese government, a new joint-venture company will be created to oversee TikTok’s U.S. business.
ByteDance will retain a minority stake of less than 20%, while U.S. and Abu Dhabi-based investors take control. Enterprise tech giant Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based investment fund MGX will hold a collective 45% stake, with ByteDance investors and new holders owning the remaining 35%.
At the signing, President Trump stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping had given the deal his approval. “It’s owned by Americans, and very sophisticated Americans,” Trump said. “This is going to be American operated all the way.”
Oracle is set to play a significant role, overseeing the app’s security operations and providing cloud computing services for the new U.S. firm. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is also part of the ownership group.
While the deal moves forward, several questions remain. No purchase price was publicly mentioned, and ByteDance has not yet acknowledged the transaction. There’s also no indication that the Chinese government has made the necessary changes to its laws to facilitate the sale.
The new arrangement does not include the U.S. government taking a stake in the company. Other prominent investors mentioned by the president include Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, and Michael Dell.
The deal comes after President Trump previously extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest its U.S. operations, preventing the Department of Justice from enforcing a law that would have penalized companies like Apple and Google for hosting the app.
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