President Donald Trump on Thursday issued an executive order approving a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a U.S.-led investor consortium, clearing a major legal and political hurdle that has shadowed the short-form video app’s future in the United States.
Vice President J.D. Vance said the deal would value TikTok U.S. at “around $14 billion,” though important details and approvals remain outstanding.
The White House framed the move as a national-security solution that keeps the app operating in the U.S. while shifting control to American investors. Under the announced framework, Oracle will audit and operate the U.S. algorithm, which White House officials say will be “retrained and operated in the United States outside of ByteDance’s control.”
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Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund are reported to be the main investors, together holding roughly 45% of the new U.S. entity, while ByteDance-related investors and new holders would own about 35%, according to reporting cited by CNBC. ByteDance itself would retain less than 20%.
“We want this to be American operated all the way,” President Trump said at the signing, singling out Oracle and its founder Larry Ellison as playing “a very big part.”
Vice President Vance described the buyers as a “blue chip group of investors” and named Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch among those expected to participate.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said U.S. users will continue to view and share content with creators abroad and that Oracle will perform ongoing audits of the algorithm. The administration also said it expects to collect a fee for facilitating the transaction; the U.S. government will not take an equity stake.
Deal architecture, participants, and lingering unknowns
Reported ownership and governance plans leave several moving parts:
- Oracle is slated to oversee security operations and supply cloud infrastructure for the spun-off TikTok U.S. unit.
- A consortium that may include Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, Silver Lake, and MGX is widely reported to be involved; President Trump also mentioned Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.
- ByteDance investors, including firms like General Atlantic, Susquehanna, and Sequoia, are expected to roll some equity into the U.S. entity.
- ByteDance itself would hold a minority stake below 20%, satisfying the statutory threshold in the U.S. divestiture law that threatened an effective ban.
- The administration said China’s leader, Xi Jinping, had “given us the go-ahead,” but Beijing has not publicly confirmed approval, and Chinese regulatory sign-off remains a necessary and uncertain step.
The executive order prevents the Department of Justice from enforcing the divestiture law until Dec. 16, buying time to consummate a deal.
Despite the publicity, no formal purchase agreement was presented at the White House signing. ByteDance did not send representatives to the ceremony and has not publicly acknowledged a transaction.
In a reported valuations conflict, Vance’s $14 billion figure sits well below prior analyst estimates that placed TikTok’s U.S. business in a $30–$35 billion range, and below earlier, larger valuations attached to ByteDance itself.
Practical questions for advertisers, employees, and the product
However, a host of operational questions remain unanswered: Advertising partners will want clarity about whether global ad buys will still route through a single platform or become siloed; marketers depend on broad reach and unified measurement. TikTok Shop and other commerce initiatives face a strategic crossroad: will new owners double down on social commerce or focus on immediate revenue generation?
Employees worry about restructuring and priorities. Some U.S. TikTok staff told BI they fear layoffs or deprioritization of teams such as e-commerce. Others questioned how a “retrained” U.S.-operated algorithm will compare to the current model developed by ByteDance engineers.
Legal and geopolitical hurdles
The deal is designed to satisfy a U.S. national-security law that required ByteDance to divest TikTok or face an effective ban. Key legal obstacles remain. China’s approval is essential; Beijing must amend or permit transactions under its own foreign-investment and export-control regimes to let a sale proceed. Negotiations over ByteDance’s retained stake and intellectual-property arrangements could be complex. The timing and terms of any Chinese sign-off will likely determine whether the transaction closes and on what timetable.
The administration’s extension of the enforcement deadline and the pledge of a facilitation fee do not eliminate these diplomatic and legal hurdles. Markets and technology partners will be watching for final purchase agreements, regulatory filings, and Chinese government statements.
If consummated, the deal would shift ownership and operational control of TikTok’s U.S. arm to an American-led investor group, addressing the core national-security argument about foreign control of the algorithm and U.S. user data. Oracle’s role as algorithm auditor and cloud provider is central to the administration’s assurances that the algorithm will be under U.S. oversight.
At the same time, a transaction that leaves ByteDance with a minority stake preserves value for existing investors and may ease Beijing’s acceptance. But it also creates an unusual governance structure: a U.S.-operated platform with continuing economic ties to a Chinese parent. That setup could spawn future frictions over data flows, content moderation policy, and product development.
For the broader tech ecosystem, the sale could set a precedent for how national-security concerns are resolved through ownership changes rather than outright bans or stricter regulatory controls. It may also reshape M&A norms for other China-origin platforms operating in the U.S.
What to watch next
- Chinese approval. Beijing’s public sign-off is both necessary and unpredictable. Officials in Beijing have yet to issue a formal confirmation.
- Definitive purchase agreement. The market needs detailed transaction documents showing price, ownership percentages, governance, and the mechanics for algorithm retraining and data custody.
- Regulatory filings and antitrust review. Federal and state regulators could review aspects of the deal, especially if it affects competition, advertising markets, or data practices.
- Employee and product roadmaps. Signals from the new owners about investment priorities—commerce, creator monetization, and moderation—will shape staff morale and advertiser confidence.
- Enforcement timeline. The DOJ’s enforcement pause runs to Dec. 16; if key approvals are not secured by then, the administration’s options will narrow.
Bottom line: The president’s executive order moves the U.S. closer to resolving a years-long uncertainty over TikTok’s future in America by signaling approval of a U.S.-led takeover. The announcement answers some political questions but raises many commercial, legal, and technical ones. The deal’s fate now depends on a complex mix of corporate negotiation, regulatory review, and international diplomacy.