Trump Inks $14B TikTok Deal in Executive Order
▼ Summary
– President Trump signed an executive order allowing a U.S.-led group to acquire TikTok from ByteDance to address national security concerns.
– TikTok’s U.S. operations will be run by a new, U.S.-based joint venture majority-owned and controlled by American persons.
– ByteDance and its affiliates will own less than 20% of the new entity, ensuring it is not controlled by a foreign adversary.
– The deal values the new U.S. company at approximately $14 billion, according to Vice President JD Vance.
– The agreement grants all parties an additional 120 days to finalize the deal, which requires approval from Chinese authorities.
President Donald Trump has formally endorsed a landmark arrangement that paves the way for TikTok to maintain its presence in the United States, addressing long-standing national security apprehensions through a significant corporate restructuring. An executive order signed Thursday establishes a framework for a U.S.-led investor group to acquire the popular video-sharing application from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. This action temporarily suspends a potential ban, granting the involved parties an additional 120 days to finalize the intricate details of the transaction, which still requires a green light from Chinese regulatory bodies.
The core of the agreement involves the creation of a new, standalone joint venture headquartered in the United States. This newly established entity will assume full operational control of TikTok’s U.S. application. A fundamental condition of the deal ensures that the company will be majority-owned and controlled by United States persons, effectively severing control from any foreign adversary. ByteDance and its affiliated companies will retain a minority stake of less than 20 percent. This new corporate structure will be governed by a fresh board of directors and will be bound by stringent rules specifically designed to safeguard American user data and national security interests.
Vice President JD Vance revealed that the new U.S.-based company is valued at approximately $14 billion, a figure that positions the sale price notably lower than many Wall Street projections. He emphasized that the primary objective was to balance the app’s continued operation with robust data protection. “There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance explained during a White House briefing.
President Trump expressed confidence in the deal’s international approval, noting his direct communication with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “I spoke with President Xi. We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing and he said go ahead with it,” Trump stated. He also highlighted the widespread support for the resolution, particularly among younger Americans, saying, “Young people especially really wanted this to happen.”
The consortium of American investors set to acquire TikTok includes prominent names from the technology and investment sectors. Tech giant Oracle and investment firm Silver Lake Partners are central to the investor group. Trump further indicated that other “world-class investors” would participate, name-checking Michael Dell of Dell Technologies and media magnate Rupert Murdoch. This collective ownership is intended to instill confidence that the platform will operate under American oversight, aligning with the administration’s security and economic priorities.
(Source: Economy Middle East)
