President Donald Trump is set to approve a deal that will separate TikTok’s U.S. operations from its Chinese parent, ByteDance, in compliance with a 2024 law requiring divestiture. A White House official confirmed that Oracle and private equity giant Silver Lake will be among the lead investors. ByteDance will retain less than 20% ownership, while TikTok US will be majority controlled by American and global investors with no ties to ByteDance.
The official noted that the full list of investors has not yet been finalized but will include “household names.” Trump has already mentioned Lachlan Murdoch, Larry Ellison, and Michael Dell as key backers. The agreement ensures that all U.S. user data will be hosted on Oracle’s American cloud infrastructure, addressing longstanding national security concerns.
The Chinese embassy in Washington welcomed negotiations that align with both U.S. and Chinese regulations, signaling no further talks are required. TikTok’s U.S. assets are expected to be valued at “many billions of dollars.” Importantly, the U.S. government will not take a board seat or receive a golden share in the new entity, though it remains unclear if it will secure any payments tied to approval.
Trump is aiming to prevent a ban on TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, after Congress passed legislation ordering a shutdown by January 2025 without a divestiture. Enforcement of that law has been delayed until mid-December, allowing time to finalize the deal and secure compliance with the divestiture requirements.
The upcoming executive order will provide a new 120-day enforcement pause, giving investors and ByteDance additional time to close the agreement. The move marks a breakthrough in U.S.-China negotiations, easing tensions amid broader trade disputes.