President Trump Approves TikTok Sale to U.S. Investors

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order approving the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to a consortium of American investors, addressing national security concerns. The agreement involves Oracle, Silver Lake Partners, and Abu Dhabi-based AI investment firm MGX acquiring approximately 50% of TikTok U.S., with ByteDance retaining a minority stake of under 20%.

Vice President J.D. Vance emphasized that the deal aims to preserve TikTok's operations in the U.S. while ensuring user data privacy. The U.S. version of TikTok will use a licensed, retrained copy of ByteDance's algorithm with American data, minimizing risks of foreign interference.

The new board of TikTok U.S. will be U.S.-controlled, comprising six American-appointed members and one selected by ByteDance. The deal is valued at $14 billion, significantly lower than earlier analyst estimates.

President Trump stated that he received support from Chinese President Xi Jinping to proceed, although details on ownership, especially regarding TikTok's recommendation algorithm, are still being finalized. The agreement is not final and requires approval from China.

Congress had previously passed a law mandating TikTok's Chinese ownership to divest by January 2025 due to national security concerns. The current deal meets the conditions of this law, allowing TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. under American ownership.