President Donald Trump has signed the executive order that marks a decisive step in the long negotiation on Tiktok’s future in the United States. The agreement, assessed about 14 billion dollars, provides for the creation of a new American company that will manage the local activities of the app, now used by 170 million US.
According to the vice -president JD Vance, the Deal meets the requirements of the National Security Law of 2024, which imposed by Bytedance, the Chinese parent company, to sell 80% of the US activities to avoid the operational ban. Bytedance will retain less than 20% of the new entity, thus guaranteeing an American prevalence control.
The American consortium
The investor consortium will be led by Oracle, Silver Lake and the Abu Dhabi Mgx fund, with an overall share close to 45%. The other investors, including General Atlantic, Sequoia and Susquehanna, will clean up about 35%. Among the names that could strengthen the team also include Rupert Murdoch and Michael Dell, while Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, will play a leading role. Oracle will not only enter as a partner, but will also be responsible for data security and cloud management, in continuity with the “Texas” project, designed to separate the information of American users from global users. The recommendation algorithm, considered the most precious asset of Tiktok, will instead be “reconstructed and monitored” by Oracle under the supervision of the new board.
The value of the operation
The value of 14 billion set by the executive order is less than the market estimates, which evaluated the US Tiktok between 30 and 40 billion dollars. According to some analysts, the price would reflect more the advertising prospects expected for 2026 than the real technological potential of the platform.
Obstacles
However, unresolved knots remain. Beijing has yet to officially approve the operation, and the Chinese media underline that Bytedance will maintain an operational role through a new American subsidiary. In addition, several republican and democratic parliamentarians ask Congress ask for more solid guarantees on the real Chinese hallway, especially regarding the algorithm. However, Trump granted time until January to close the operation, after five postponements to the deadline required by law.
