TikTok USA, ByteDance is left with 20 per cent. New algorithm in the hands of Larry Ellison's Oracle

After months of negotiations, Washington and Beijing are getting closer to a preliminary agreement on TikTok. The Wall Street Journal writes this, explaining that, according to a senior White House official, President Trump is expected to approve it with an executive order by the end of the week. The deal would see the creation of a new entity to manage the platform in the US: a consortium of new investors, including private equity firm Silver Lake and Oracle, would hold about half, while current shareholders, such as trading firm Susquehanna International, would hold about 30 per cent.

The share of ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, would fall below 20 per cent in order to comply with a 2024 law, which requires the company to enter into an agreement or cease operations in the US. According to the American newspaper, BytDance would reprogram a new version of the algorithm, under the supervision of Oracle - whose co-founder is Larry Ellison, one of Trump's main allies - and the US government, to be licensed to the new entity. In this way, users would be able to access the service via the same app they have been using so far. And, most importantly, China would not be able to access the data. This was one of the main concerns of officials in Washington, along with the pressure generated in the aftermath of the 7 October 2023 attack against Israel, when US lawmakers - the Wall Street Journal analyses - were shown research showing that videos with pro-Palestinian hashtags were getting far more views than those with pro-Israeli hashtags. About six months later, Congress passed a law banning the app or requiring its sale.

The preliminary agreement to keep TikTok operational in the US does not provide for the federal government to acquire an equity stake or a 'golden share' in the social media company, a senior White House official said, according to US media reports. The official confirmed that the deal will base the US operations of the popular video app in the United States under a new joint venture with a board of directors made up of a majority of American members. Tech giant Oracle will oversee its security operations, the official said during a call with reporters. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the US government has secured a golden share in U.S. Steel and acquired an equity stake in Intel.