TikTok US to be valued at $14bn after Trump’s deal, White House says
Abu Dhabi’s MGX joins Silver Lake and Oracle as lead investors
 The status of TikTok in the US has been in limbo since April 2024 © Reuters
current progress 100%
Alex Rogers in Washington, Antoine Gara and James Fontanella-Khan in New York and Cristina Criddle in San Francisco
Publishedan hour ago
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TikTok US will be valued at $14bn under Donald Trump’s deal to force a split from the social media app’s Chinese parent, vice-president JD Vance said on Thursday.
Vance was speaking as the president signed an executive order in the Oval Office to approve the agreement and provide a 120-day window to finalise the details.
Oracle, private equity group Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi’s MGX will control roughly 45 per cent of TikTok US, according to people familiar with the matter. TikTok’s owner ByteDance will own 19.9 per cent.
Trump said he had spoken with Xi Jinping about the deal and had “great respect” for China’s president.
“We had a good talk,” Trump said. “He gave us the go ahead.”
The status of TikTok in the US has been in limbo since April 2024, when Congress passed a law mandating a divestiture by ByteDance. Trump has repeatedly delayed implementation of the law in search of a compromise.
The administration announced a breakthrough last week on negotiations with Beijing to clear the way for a deal. But the agreement could still falter amid wider US-China trade talks to forestall a return to a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
“There was some resistance on the Chinese side,” Vance said. “We’re going to keep on working at it.”
Trump’s compromise has also faced some pushback from lawmakers who are sceptical of China and want to see TikTok shutdown in the US or more completely severed from ByteDance.
The participation of MGX, an Abu Dhabi sovereign investment fund focused on tech, could add to concerns over foreign influence.
Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, is the “linchpin” of the US arm of the deal, according to a person who has worked closely with Trump administration on getting the deal done.
Oracle will oversee data privacy and TikTok’s algorithm. Ellison’s key role in the deal underscores his ascent as one of America’s pre-eminent tech, media, and entertainment moguls.
Trump said Ellison and Oracle would play a “very big role” in TikTok US.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who briefly overtook Elon Musk at the top of the global rich list, recently backed his son David’s takeover of Paramount and is now preparing a bid for Warner Bros. If successful, the deal would create a powerhouse spanning Hollywood, live sports, and news.
“We actually think this is a good deal for investors,” Vance said on Thursday. “We don’t want [TikTok] used as a propaganda tool by any foreign government. We want to make sure that?.?.?.?our investors actually make these decisions based on what’s good for their business.”
Under the terms of the anticipated deal, existing US investors, including General Atlantic and Susquehanna, are expected to retain a stake in the business. Susquehanna’s Jeff Yass and General Atlantic’s Bill Ford are two of the top donors to Maga Inc, the pro-Trump Super Pac.
They will be joined by a consortium of new investors. Trump said personal computer pioneer Michael Dell and media mogul Rupert Murdoch are involved in the deal. Murdoch is expected to invest through his media group Fox Corp, the owner of cable channel Fox News, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The deal represents further progress in how a US version of the viral short-form video app will be governed. The algorithm that recommends video in users’ feeds, considered the secret sauce that makes the app so popular with young people, will be overseen by Oracle.
“Oracle will operate in partnership with the US government to ensure safety and data security across the entire TikTok platform,” a White House official said this week.
The official said TikTok’s algorithm would be “secured, retrained, and operated in the US outside of ByteDance’s control”.
ByteDance will select one of the US arm’s seven directors, and “be excluded from the company’s security committee”, the official added.
Under Chinese law, Beijing has control over exports of algorithms, with TikTok’s technology listed in the official database. Last week, the country’s cyber security regulator said it had agreed a framework to license “the algorithm and other intellectual property rights” to the US.
TikTok, Oracle, Silver Lake, General Atlantic, Susquehanna and MGX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. |
