US investors to control TikTok US — deal details
Recent reports indicate a deal is taking shape to move control of TikTok’s US operations to a group of American investors. Key points:
- Ownership: US investors (reported to include Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz and Silver Lake) would hold roughly 80% of the US entity; Chinese ByteDance shareholders would retain under 20%.
- Governance: The US government would reportedly be able to appoint one board member to the American-dominated board.
- Data & security: Oracle is reported to oversee US user data and security operations for the new entity.
- Algorithm: TikTok engineers in the US would rebuild/recreate the recommendation algorithm using technology licensed from ByteDance.
- Timeline: A final deal is said to be close but could still take time; the US ban deadline has been extended.
These details were initially reported by The Wall Street Journal and have been echoed by other major outlets. For additional reporting and updates, see a recent Reuters summary: Reuters: search results for TikTok US deal.
Other outlets covering the story include The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Financial Times and The New York Times. (Original Engadget article noted the story but no RSS links are included here.)
What this means
If the deal proceeds as described, the move would place control of US operations and user data largely in American hands while keeping ByteDance as a minority stakeholder. The separation of algorithm development and US data oversight are key components intended to address national security concerns.
Sources & further reading
- Reuters search: TikTok US deal (recommended)
- Wall Street Journal
- Bloomberg
- Financial Times
- The New York Times
Share your thoughts in the comments: Is this a true fix for US data security, or a political compromise?