White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared on Fox News today and stated that an agreement has been reached, though not yet signed, to spin out TikTok’s U.S. operations under majority American ownership. Leavitt confirmed that Americans would hold six of the seven board seats in the restructured company and that control over the short-form video app’s algorithm would remain in the United States.
Leavitt expressed confidence that the signing of the deal would happen in the coming days, noting that all major details have already been agreed upon. According to reports, new investors in TikTok will include Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and the private equity firm Silver Lake Management. Oracle is expected to take responsibility for the app’s security and safety. Current owner ByteDance would reportedly own less than 20% of the newly spun-off company.
President Donald Trump repeatedly extended the deadline of a U.S. bill that would ban TikTok if it were not sold to new owners. He said on Friday that China’s president Xi Jinping had approved the deal.