For a week, the White House has signaled that a deal to transfer ownership of TikTok to a US company is forthcoming. Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order this week that would create a structure for a group of investors to take over operations of the Chinese social media company in the US.
On Monday, White House officials said that the US business software company Oracle would license a copy of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm as part of the deal. The partnership expands on Oracle’s existing management of TikTok’s trove of data collected about its US users.
The US president spoke with China’s president Xi Jinping over the phone on Friday, saying in a Truth Social post that the call was “a very good one” and that he appreciates the “TikTok approval”. Earlier in the week, leaders from both governments met in Madrid, Spain, to discuss trade and also hash out a deal for TikTok’s ownership.
The popular app’s future in the US has been in limbo for more than a year, a saga that began after Congress overwhelmingly voted to pass a law banning the social media app in 2024 unless it found a US buyer. The supreme court upheld the law in January, but on Trump’s first day in office, he signed an executive order postponing the ban. He’s since repeatedly continued to delay its enforcement until a deal is secured, though the ban on TikTok was originally his idea.
Here’s what we know about the forthcoming deal, including the involvement of the Murdoch family of media moguls and Oracle’s Larry Ellison, who briefly dethroned Elon Musk as the richest person in the world two weeks ago.
What are the terms of the deal?
The deal aims to keep TikTok operating in the US, but with new owners who are not affiliated with China. Lawmakers say the popular social media app, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance and has 180 million users in the US, could be used by Beijing to spread propaganda and manipulate users.
At least a dozen investors have expressed interest in taking over TikTok, including a group led by the software giant Oracle. The full panel of investors is not yet known. According to White House officials, Oracle will be tasked with housing US users’ data and controlling TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm, so that information is out of the hands of ByteDance or Chinese officials.
ByteDance will ultimately own less than 20% of the app, a White House official told Reuters, and TikTok in the US will be controlled by a mix of its existing US and global firms and the new investors who have no affiliation with ByteDance.
The agreement requires that all data on US users will be stored in the US on cloud computing infrastructure run by Oracle.
Who is involved?
Trump said in an interview on Fox News on Sunday that media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, the CEO of Fox Corporation could be part of deal. He said Michael Dell, the CEO of the computer maker Dell, was also involved.
Larry Ellison, the cofounder of Oracle, has long been at the forefront of possible buyers. It’s been floated that he is leading the consortium of investors, which could also include asset manager Blackstone, private equity firm Silver Lake, Walmart and billionaire Frank McCourt.
The US government will not take a board seat or receive a golden share in the new entity that will own TikTok in the US, according to Reuters. It is unclear if the US government will receive payments as a condition of approval.
Why is this happening?
The idea of banning TikTok originated with Trump in 2020, who said the Chinese-owned app posed a danger to national security. It quickly became a bipartisan issue and Congress overwhelmingly voted to ban the app last year unless it divested from its Chinese owners. The original deadline for the TikTok ban was on 19 January.
Trump switched his stance on TikTok after joining the app while campaigning for president last year, amassing millions of followers and hosting the TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and at the White House. The president credits the social media site for helping him connect with young voters during the 2024 election.
Trump signed his first executive order delaying the TikTok ban in January and has since signed three more orders to postpone enforcement until a deal is reached. Currently, the president has delayed enforcement of the law to go through mid-December as details of the deal are worked out to ensure the new ownership qualifies as a full divestiture.
What will the executive order do?
The order is expected to outline the structure of the TikTok deal and certify that the agreement is legal under US law. The plan will reportedly include a seven-member board controlled by Americans, and TikTok’s secretive algorithm will be leased to its new US owners, according to the Information.
Trump’s executive order is expected to include a new 120-day enforcement pause to allow the investors and ByteDance to close the agreement.
Will China agree?
The US is confident that China has approved the deal and does not plan further talks with Beijing about its details, a White House official told reporters on a conference call, but added that additional paperwork is required from both sides to approve the deal.
China has not confirmed that it has approved the deal. ByteDance has said it’s been in discussions with the US government regarding a solution for the app, but that any agreement “will be subject to approval under Chinese law”.
