US President Donald Trump signed an order on Thursday that will allow a coalition of investors led by Oracle to acquire and manage TikTok, separately from its Chinese owner ByteDance. Collectively, these investments will help dilute ByteDance's Chinese ownership to below 20 percent to meet legal requirements.
The American company of the popular app, used by over 170 million people in the US, will be valued at $14 billion, Vice President J.D. Vance reported.
The deal aims to help TikTok comply with federal law, which in January banned the app in the US due to concerns that Beijing could use it to access confidential data of Americans or spread propaganda. Trump repeatedly postponed the enforcement of the ban.
The federal law concerning TikTok gives the president the right to determine whether any deal is considered a «qualified sale» that meets his conditions. In his order signed on Thursday, he states that the framework of the investor coalition meets these conditions.
The software giant Oracle, co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison, will acquire a stake in the American TikTok. Trump also stated that media mogul Rupert Murdoch is involved in the deal. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Murdoch's investments will be made through Fox Corporation.
Furthermore, as sources told The New York Times, the investor coalition will include the Emirati investment company MGX, despite Trump's statements that only American companies would be involved.
As the publication writes, MGX previously stated that it invested $2 billion in a cryptocurrency startup founded by the Trump family.
Photo: The New York Times