In Brief
Posted:
2:56 PM PST · January 25, 2025
Image Credits:Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto / Getty Images
The Trump administration is negotiating a deal that would see Oracle take over TikTok alongside new U.S. investors, according to a report by NPR.
Lawmakers passed a bill last year forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to either sell TikTok or see it banned in the U.S. The app briefly went dark before the law took effect on January 20 — until incoming president Donald Trump said he would issue an executive order delaying the ban.
At the time, Trump also outlined his “initial thought” on a deal to save TikTok — creating “a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership.”
NPR’s reporting suggests that a deal is now shaping up where Oracle would take control of TikTok’s global operations while ByteDance retains a minority stake.
Trump tried to force TikTok to sell during his first term, with Oracle emerging as a potential buyer. While that didn’t happen, TikTok later said it shifted all its U.S. traffic to Oracle servers. And at a press conference on Tuesday, Trump said he’d be open to either X owner Elon Musk or Oracle chairman Larry Ellison buying the app.
Meanwhile, some of the senators who supported the ban-or-sell bill have expressed confusion about Trump’s plans and said the law requires ByteDance to fully divest.
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