The Trump administration is reportedly working on a plan to save the U.S. operations of TikTok that involves Oracle Corp. and group investors acquiring the popular short-form video application.
According to NPR, referencing “two people with direct knowledge of the talks,” the potential deal could even go as far as Oracle acquiring a majority stake in ByteDance Ltd., the owner of TikTok, not just for the U.S. operations but the entire company. Previous reports have suggested that only the U.S. part of TikTok would be on the table and there is no suggestion that ByteDance would want to sell a majority stake in one of the largest social video apps online.
TikTok has about 150 million users in the U.S., but globally claims about 2 billion users. Being banned in the U.S. is not great for TikTok financially, but U.S. users account for under 10% of TikTok users globally, so a ban in the U.S. would not be the end of the world for ByteDance.
“The goal is for Oracle to effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok,” one of NPR’s sources claimed. “ByteDance wouldn’t completely go away, but it would minimize Chinese ownership.”
In response to the report, President Trump denied that any talks are underway with Oracle but said that he has “spoken to many people about TikTok” and may make a decision in the next month.
Trump told reporters on Airforce One, in response to questions about the report, that he hasn’t talked with Oracle. “Numerous people are talking to me, very substantial people, about buying it and I will make that decision probably over the next 30 days,” he said. “Congress has given 90 days. If we can save TikTok, I think it would be a good thing.”
According to Reuters, the deal being negotiated by the White House would see ByteDance retaining a stake in the company — either the U.S. or global operations — but data collection and software updates would be overseen by Oracle, which already provides hosting for TikTok.
If the concept and reports sound familiar, it’s because they are. President Trump tried to negotiate a deal for Oracle to buy the U.S. operations in TikTok in the last year of his first term as president.
In 2020, it was reported that negotiations were underway, culminating in Trump saying in September 2020 that he agreed in concept to a proposed deal that would see the U.S. operations of TikTok being acquired by Oracle and, surprisingly, Walmart Inc. There are no suggestions this time around that Walmart is or could be involved in any potential deal.
ByteDance is on the record as saying that the global operations of TikTok are not up for sale, but a deal for the U.S. arm is not impossible. The No. 1 sticking point remains and has always been the app’s algorithm — the primary reason why TikTok has become so popular globally.
Given its reach, there could be other companies that might be interested, and given that President Trump has said that talks are underway with others, a deal is possible. Potential buyers could include Elon Musk via X Corp., the company previously known as Twitter.
President Trump reportedly said on Jan. 21 that he was open to the idea of Musk buying the U.S. operations of the app. It was also reported earlier this month that Chinese officials were interested in supporting a deal that involved Musk taking a stake in the company.
Image: News/Ideogram
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