Trump Approves TikTok US Sale to Oracle-led Group
President Donald Trump has approved the sale of TikTok's US operations to a group of American investors, led by Oracle. The deal, which has been in negotiation for months, aims to address national security concerns over the popular social media app's Chinese ownership.
The sale, which may not be finalized until early next year, involves a complex shift in ownership. ByteDance, the Chinese parent company, will retain less than 20 percent of the shares, transferring majority control to American parties. Oracle and investor Silver Lake are key participants, alongside existing international shareholders in ByteDance and new investors like Fox Corp.
Trump wants to officially recognize the sale as a mandatory divestiture under the ban-or-sale law with a presidential decree. The deadline for regulatory approval from both the US and China has been extended by 120 days to facilitate this process. The recommendation algorithm, which has raised concerns over data privacy and content moderation, will remain in the US. It will be revised and retrained with data from US users, with Oracle maintaining permanent oversight to exclude influence from ByteDance.
The new American company will be established with a majority of shareholders and board members from the US. Oracle's Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia will serve as co-CEOs, replacing Safra Catz. All user data from US TikTok users will be stored in an Oracle cloud environment, ensuring data privacy and security.
