U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order paving the way for the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to American and international investors, valuing the new entity at approximately $14 billion — a figure far below analysts’ earlier projections.
At a press briefing in the Oval Office on Thursday, Reuters reported Trump saying the deal meets national security conditions set out in the 2024 legislation, which requires the divestment of Chinese ownership or a shutdown of the platform’s U.S. presence by January 2025.
"I spoke with President Xi. We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it," Trump said, suggesting the deal has the tacit approval of the Chinese leadership.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking alongside Trump, confirmed the valuation and stressed that data privacy was a primary concern.
"There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans' data privacy as required by law," Vance stated.
The agreement follows months of negotiations and delays. Trump had extended the deadline for enforcement of the law until 16 December, allowing time to disentangle TikTok’s U.S. operations from its parent company, ByteDance, and secure domestic and allied investors.
The structure of the deal, according to sources familiar with the matter, involves three key investors — Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX — who are expected to acquire a combined stake of around 45–50% in the U.S. business. Existing ByteDance investors, including Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, and KKR, would retain approximately 30%, with ByteDance itself holding less than 20% to comply with legal limits.
Trump named several high-profile figures expected to participate in the new venture. “This is going to be American-operated all the way,” he said. “Michael Dell, Rupert Murdoch and probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” are reportedly involved.
While the White House has not disclosed how the $14 billion valuation was determined, analysts have noted the figure is significantly lower than prior estimates. ByteDance, which recently priced its own value above $330 billion in an internal share buyback, derives only a fraction of its revenue from the U.S. TikTok operation.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, estimated earlier this year that TikTok’s U.S. business, without its algorithm, could be worth between $30 billion and $40 billion.
One unresolved issue remains the ownership and control of TikTok’s coveted recommendation algorithm — the technology underpinning the platform’s viral content and user engagement. It is unclear whether the algorithm will be included in the U.S. deal, a sticking point in negotiations with Beijing.
The finalised structure of the new TikTok U.S. board is also under scrutiny. A senior White House official said ByteDance will appoint one of seven board members, with the remaining six seats to be held by American nationals.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have called for increased transparency. “As the details are finalised, we must ensure this deal protects American users from the influence and surveillance of CCP-aligned groups,” said Representatives Brett Guthrie, Gus Bilirakis and Richard Hudson in a joint statement.
TikTok, ByteDance, Oracle, and Silver Lake have not issued official responses to the developments. The Chinese embassy in Washington also declined to comment.
Trump, who has more than 15 million followers on TikTok and credits the platform with aiding his re-election campaign, said the platform’s U.S. future is secure under the new arrangement. -September 26, 2025
