President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, which officially approves a proposal that would keep TikTok alive in the U.S. According to Vice President JD Vance, the deal values the business at $14 billion. The executive order states that the deal satisfies the requirements of a national security law that requires China-based ByteDance to sell its U.S. operations or face an effective ban. Under the terms, which still need approval from the Chinese government, a new joint-venture company will oversee TikTok’s U.S. business, with ByteDance retaining less than a 20% stake.
Details of the Ownership and Oversight
A report from CNBC’s David Faber provided more details about the ownership structure. The main investors in TikTok’s U.S. business will be enterprise tech giant Oracle, investment firm Silver Lake, and the Abu Dhabi-based MGX investment fund, who will collectively control a roughly 45% stake in the entity. ByteDance investors and new holders are expected to own the remaining 35%. While no purchase price was mentioned in the official announcement, the $14 billion valuation is a significant departure from the $30 billion to $35 billion that analysts had previously estimated.
President Trump confirmed that Oracle will be playing a “very big part” in the deal, overseeing the app’s security operations and continuing to provide cloud computing services. “It’s owned by Americans, and very sophisticated Americans,” Trump said at the signing. “This is going to be American operated all the way.” A senior White House official confirmed that the federal government would not have an equity stake or a “golden share” in the new company, nor would it have a seat on its board.
The Path to a Final Agreement
The executive order comes after Trump had previously extended ByteDance’s deadline to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations until December 16. That extension was an effort to save the platform from a national security law that would penalize app store operators like Apple and Google for providing services to TikTok’s U.S. operations. The current executive order prevents the Department of Justice from enforcing that law until the new deadline.
Vice President Vance said that President Xi Jinping gave the deal the go-ahead, but no representatives from ByteDance were present at the signing. The company has not officially acknowledged that a transaction is taking place, and there is no indication that the Chinese government has made the necessary changes to its laws for a deal to be finalized.
Author’s Opinion
This deal represents a pragmatic solution to a complex geopolitical problem. It allows both the U.S. and China to save face while preserving a popular app for American users. The ownership structure and Oracle’s oversight are designed to address national security concerns, but the ultimate success of the arrangement will depend on whether China truly relinquishes control of the app’s algorithm. The deal shows that in a high-stakes trade war, compromise can be found to protect economic interests, even if the details of that compromise remain complex. This is a story about how a company’s fate can be determined not just by its market performance, but by the diplomatic and political considerations of two superpowers.
Featured image credit: Heute
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