Audio By Carbonatix
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he supported a deal in principle that would allow TikTok to continue to operate in the United States, even as it appeared to conflict with his earlier order for China’s ByteDance to divest the video app.
ByteDance was racing to avoid a crackdown on TikTok after the U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday it would block new downloads and updates to the app come Sunday.
U.S. officials had expressed concern that the personal data of as many as 100 million Americans that use the app was being passed on to China’s Communist Party government.
Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 14 giving ByteDance 90 days to sell TikTok. The deal announced on Saturday, however, is structured as a partnership rather than a divestment.
TikTok will be owned by a new company called TikTok Global and headquartered in the United States, possibly in Texas, Trump said.
Oracle Corp ORCL.N will take a 12.5% stake in TikTok Global and store all its U.S. user data on its cloud to comply with U.S. national security requirements, the companies said.
Retail giant Walmart Inc WMT.Nsaid it would take a 7.5% stake in TikTok Global. The implied valuation for TikTok Global as a result of these investments could not be learned.
While Oracle and Walmart said that TikTok Global will be majority-owned by U.S. investors, this is the case only if ByteDance’s investor base is taken into account, according to a source familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the deal’s structure. This is because ByteDance will own 80% of TikTok Global, the source said.
Given that U.S. investors currently own about 40% of ByteDance, the White House will count that towards how much of TikTok Global is owned by U.S. parties, the source added. As a result, Oracle, Walmart, and ByteDance’s U.S. investors will own, directly or indirectly, about 53% of TikTok Global, a second source said.
Beijing-based ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Walmart and Oracle also did not offer more information on TikTok Global’s ownership structure.
It was not immediately clear what spurred the White House to compromise on its push for an outright sale of TikTok.
However, the deal comes with pledges that cater to Trump’s “America First” policy agenda. It also avoids alienating TikTok’s young users ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. election.
ByteDance agreed to create 25,000 new U.S. jobs at TikTok, up from a little over 1,000 now. Trump, who had previously called on companies such as Oracle and Walmart to pay the United States a “fee” to participate in the TikTok deal, said there would also be a $5 billion U.S. education fund as part of the deal.
Latest Stories
-
Well-funded NGOs now controlling curriculum development in Ghana – ex-NaCCA head reveals
18 seconds -
Ibrahim Osman joins Birmingham City on season-long loan from Brighton
7 minutes -
IES defends NPA price floor policy amid debate over fuel pricing
9 minutes -
13 schoolchildren killed after bus collides with lorry in South Africa
11 minutes -
Moroccan FA to take legal action with CAF and FIFA over Senegal stoppage in AFCON final
20 minutes -
Arise Ghana set to picket US Embassy over Ofori-Atta’s return to face justice
31 minutes -
NPP Primary: Only Kennedy Agyapong is likely to secure 50%+1 votes – Researcher
32 minutes -
NPP sold over 300 Metro Mass buses amongst cronies in 2020 – Deputy MD
39 minutes -
Research highlights delegate behaviour ahead of NPP primaries
40 minutes -
Medical Kalabule: Inside Ridge Hospital’s system that exploits patients [Part One]
43 minutes -
FosCel founder calls for integration of sickle cell education into Ghana’s school curriculum
53 minutes -
GCB Bank rewards first 10 winners in ‘Pa To Pa Promo’
56 minutes -
GIPC hosts business forum with 54-member Japanese delegation following presidential state visit to Japan
1 hour -
FosCel announces National Sickle Cell Fun Fair on Valentine’s Day
1 hour -
Passengers tell of terror, screams and darkness after Spain train crash
1 hour
