AsianFin – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order on the sale of TikTok to a group of U.S. investors, saying that the proposed deal satisfied required conditions.
The deal, which Trump said complies with a 2024 law signed by former President Joe Biden, involves American investors acquiring a majority stake—reportedly around 80%—in TikTok’s U.S. operations. The investment group includes technology company Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, media executive Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell. Oracle will reportedly take over control of TikTok’s algorithm and handle cloud storage of American user data.
ByteDance and its Chinese investors will retain a minority 19.9% stake. However, U.S. officials emphasized that under the agreement, China will not have access to American user data. No representatives from ByteDance attended the signing, and the company has not publicly confirmed that a transaction is underway.
The popular app’s future in the U.S. has been in limbo for more than a year, a drama that started after Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass a law banning the social media app in 2024 unless it was sold to a U.S. buyer. The app was briefly shut down in the U.S. in January, shortly before Trump assumed office, and the president has since issued multiple extensions to the divestment deadline.
“It’s very good and very meaningful, but we have American investors taking it over, running it, highly sophisticated,” Trump said during the signing ceremony in the Oval Office. He also noted Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison would play a major role in overseeing the platform’s security and data management.
According to the White House, a new seven-member board will govern the U.S. version of TikTok, with six members being American citizens. No purchase price has been publicly disclosed, and there is currently no indication that the Chinese government has modified its export control laws that could affect such a transaction.
Vice President J.D. Vance said the American-owned entity could be valued at approximately $14 billion and emphasized the importance of U.S. control over the platform’s algorithm and content moderation systems.
“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but ultimately the investors are going to make the determination about what they would invest in and what they think is proper value,” Vance said. “We don’t want this used as a propaganda tool by any foreign government.”
While Trump did not offer detailed ownership breakdowns, both he and Vance indicated that Oracle will play a central role in the future operations of the app.
TikTok was a notable tool in Trump’s 2024 election campaign, especially in his efforts to reach younger voters. The president credited the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated earlier this month, with encouraging his campaign’s use of the platform.
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