After almost a year of deadline extensions preventing a TikTok ban from taking effect, a deal for new owners to take over the app in the U.S. is imminent. Reports suggest the announcement could come as soon as this week.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the “framework” for a TikTok deal had been reached, and President Donald Trump extended the deadline for a deal to be completed to December 16. It was the fourth extension issued since Congress passed a law last year requiring TikTok’s parent company, Beijing-based ByteDance, to sell the popular app or face a ban in the U.S.
Trump announced on Truth Social on Friday that he had a “very productive” call with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, and that “progress” has been made “on the approval of the TikTok Deal.”
Now, details are emerging. Here’s what we know.
Who Is Buying TikTok?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Oracle and the private-equity firm Silver Lake would lead a group of U.S. backers in owning about 80% of the company. (Oracle and Silverlake’s shares would be about 50% and previous investors would hold about 30%.) ByteDance’s stake would be just below 20%.
Trump told Fox News this past weekend that other investors “involved” in the deal “probably” included Michael Dell and Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch.
“I think they’re going to be in the group. A couple of others. Really great people, very prominent people,” Trump said. “And they’re also American patriots, you know, they love this country. I think they’re going to do a really good job.”
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The potential to buy TikTok attracted a lot of suitors, and bids were submitted by a slew of notable business leaders, including the team of Kevin O’Leary, billionaire former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in “The People’s Bid.” AI startup Perplexity, Amazon, and Applovin all submitted separate proposals as well.
Who Will Control TikTok’s Algorithm and Data?
According to a new report by Bloomberg, data would be stored by Oracle, and the tech giant would also “retrain” the algorithm. ByteDance, meanwhile, would not be able to access U.S. user data, and the China-based company would not have any control over the algorithm stateside.
Oracle has been TikTok’s U.S. cloud provider since 2022.
“Oracle, the U.S. security partner, will operate, retrain, and continuously monitor the U.S. algorithm to ensure content is free from improper manipulation or surveillance,” a White House official told Bloomberg.
A senior White House official told CNBC on Monday that the deal will not involve the U.S. government taking a “golden share” or any equity stake.