President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that declared his plan to sell American Tiktok operations of Chinese property to the United States and global investors will address national security requirements in a 2024 law.
The new American company will be valued at around $ 14 billion, said Vice President JD Vance, putting a price on the popular short video application well below some analyst estimates.
Trump delayed on Thursday until January 20, the application of the law that prohibits the application unless its Chinese owners sell it in the midst of efforts to extract American Tiktok assets from the global platform, align US investors and others, and win the approval of the Chinese government.
The publication of the Executive Order shows that Trump is progressing in the sale of Tiktok US assets, but numerous details must be developed, including the way in which the US entity would use the most important asset of Tiktok, its recommendation algorithm.
“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing we wanted to achieve is that we wanted to keep Tiktok operating, but we also wanted to ensure the privacy of the data of the Americans as required by law,” Vance told journalists in information about the Oval office.
Trump’s order says that the algorithm will be reached and monitored by the security partners of the US company, and the operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint business.
Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated the approval of the plans. “I talked to President XI,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing and he said he continue with that.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated on Friday that the Government “respects the will of companies and welcomes them to carry out trade negotiations based on the market rules to achieve solutions that comply with Chinese laws and regulations and achieve a balance of interest.”
“We hope that the United States provides an open, fair and non -discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies that invest in the United States,” said Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun, to a press conference, without giving more details of the agreement.
Tiktok did not comment immediately about Trump’s action.
Trump has accredited Tiktok, who has 170 million US users, helping him win re -election last year. Trump has 15 million followers in his personal Tiktok account. The White House also launched an official Tiktok account last month.
“This will be operated by Americans,” Trump said. He said Michael Dell, the founder, president and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, President Emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp and newspaper editor NOTS CORPand “probably four or five investors absolutely world class” would be part of the agreement.
The White House did not discuss how the valuation of $ 14 billion occurred to him.
The Chinese Father of Tiktok, Bytedonce, is currently valued at more than $ 330 billion, according to his new employee shares repurchase plan. Tiktok contributes a small percentage of the company’s total income.
According to Wedbush Securities Dan Iives, it was estimated that Tiktok was worth $ 30 billion to $ 40 billion without the algorithm from April 2025.
Alan Rozenshtein, professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Minnesota, said that the Executive Order left unanswered questions, including if the bytete would still control the algorithm.
“The problem is that the president has certified the agreement, but has not provided much information about the algorithm,” he said.
The Chinese media also painted a different image of the Tiktok agreement, which suggests that the Bytedance would continue to play an important or operational role.
Bytedance will establish a new American company as part of the restructuring of American Tiktok operations, Chinese media Late post He informed, citing Fuentes.
The new company that will be established by Bytedance will be responsible for electronic commerce, brand operations and interconnection with international operations, according to the report.
The report also said that the joint company, as described by the White House and valued at $ 14 billion, would be responsible for the digital security of the United States, safeguard content and software, as well as related local companies.
Another Chinese financial magazine, CaixinHe also reported, citing people close to the agreement, that the Bytedance planned to establish an American Tiktok entity that will receive some income from the new Tiktok joint company.
Both reports were withdrawn from their respective websites later on Friday. The White House and the Bytedance did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Oracle and others to own Tiktok in the United States
A group of three investors, including Oracle and the private capital firm Silver Lake, will take a participation of approximately 50 percent in Tiktok US, two sources familiar with the agreement said Thursday.
A group of existing shareholders in Bytedance will have a participation of approximately 30 percent, said one of the sources. Among the current Bytedance investors are Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic and Kkr.
Given the intense interest of investors in Tiktok, the 50PC participation can still change, the source said.
Oracle and Silver Lake did not immediately respond to comments requests.
CNBC He reported previously, citing Fuentes, that MGX, Oracle and Silver Lake, based in Abu Dhabi, are ready to be the main investors in Tiktok US with a combined property of 45pc.
MGX did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the CNBC report.
Republican legislators from the House of Representatives said they wanted to see more details of the agreement to ensure that it would represent a clean break with China.
“As the details are terminated, we must ensure that this agreement protects US users from the influence and surveillance of PCCH -aligned groups,” American representatives Brett Guthrie, Gus Bilirakis and Richard Hudson said.
The agreement on the American operations of Tiktok includes the appointment through the Bytedance of one of the seven members of the Board for the new entity, with the Americans occupied by the other six seats, said a senior White House official on Saturday.
The Bytedance would maintain less than 20 percent in Tiktok US to meet the requirements established in the 2024 law that ordered that it be closed in January 2025 if the bytete did not sell its assets in the US. UU.
