Trump signs order approving $14B TikTok U.S. deal
The deal follows several deadline extensions and negotiations between the U.S. and China
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order approving a deal that will allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. The order approves a $14 billion deal restructuring TikTok’s U.S. operations.
The move follows months of uncertainty, five deadline extensions, and back-and-forth negotiations between Washington and Beijing. The decision meets the requirements of a national security law mandating that China-based ByteDance divest TikTok’s U.S. assets or face an effective ban. “President Trump has determined that the divestiture outlined in a proposed framework agreement is a qualified divestiture,” the White House said in a statement.
New ownership structure
Under the deal, Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX will be the lead investors, together owning around 45 percent of the entity. Trump also mentioned Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch as part of the investor group.
ByteDance, TikTok’s current owner, will keep a 19.9 percent stake. The remaining 35 percent will go to previous and new investors connected to ByteDance. This structure ensures that U.S. investors hold a controlling interest while ByteDance reduces its ownership.
Control of TikTok’s algorithm
Under the deal, Oracle, which has worked with the company before on data security, will continue overseeing the app’s algorithm and related safeguards.
The company will oversee how the algorithm is managed, ensuring compliance with U.S. rules. According to the executive order, the algorithm will be retrained, monitored, and operated under the control of the new U.S. joint venture.
This arrangement attempts to address long-standing concerns about how user data is handled and how content is distributed on the app. “There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, and we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.
International response and next steps
Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had given his approval of the arrangement during their recent conversation. China’s foreign ministry confirmed that the government supports business negotiations “on the basis of market rules” and emphasized that Chinese companies should be allowed to operate in the U.S. under open and fair conditions.
The deal was reached after the U.S. and China agreed on a framework to avoid a nationwide ban of TikTok. Trump has delayed the enforcement of the ban until January 20 to allow time for the restructuring to be completed.
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