The Trump administration has been discussing a potential TikTok deal this weekend. President Donald Trump told Fox News on Sunday that Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan are likely to be involved. He specifically mentioned Lachlan Murdoch and noted that Rupert is probably going to be part of the investor group.
The president also stated that Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell are expected to be involved. While Trump did not specify if these were personal or company investments, subsequent reports indicate that Fox Corp is in talks to join the investor group backing TikTok’s U.S. spinoff from its owner, ByteDance.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on Fox News on Saturday and confirmed that an agreement has been reached, though not yet signed. This deal would spin out TikTok’s U.S. operations under majority American ownership. Leavitt said Americans will hold six of the seven board seats in the restructured company, and the app’s algorithm will be U.S.-controlled. She anticipates the deal will be signed in the coming days.
Reports also indicate that new investors in TikTok will include Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and the private equity firm Silver Lake Management. Oracle would be responsible for the app’s security and safety. ByteDance would own less than 20% of the spun-off company.
A federal bill passed last year was set to ban TikTok in January, shortly before Trump returned to office. The app briefly went dark in the United States before Trump repeatedly extended the deadline for ByteDance to sell the app. He said Friday that China’s president Xi Jinping had approved the deal. TikTok issued a statement thanking both Xi and Trump for their efforts to preserve the app in the United States, confirming that ByteDance will work to ensure TikTok remains available to American users.