Washington: Tech giant Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake are set to be part of the "investor consortium" taking control of TikTok's US operations, a senior White House official revealed. The official, speaking anonymously, stated that there is significant interest from American and international companies in the investment and tech sectors, though negotiations are ongoing to include additional investors.
According to Anadolu Agency, the final group will consist of existing investors in ByteDance, the Chinese tech company owning TikTok, along with numerous new investors unaffiliated with ByteDance. The official indicated that although the complete capitalization table is not yet finalized, it will feature major firms such as Oracle and Silver Lake.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt emphasized that TikTok would be owned by a majority of American investors and governed by a board of directors with national security and cybersecurity expertise, in collaboration with the US government. Oracle will act as TikTok's trusted security provider, overseeing the safety and data security of all US user data on TikTok's platform.
Leavitt assured that American data would be securely stored in the United States, with no access from China. All US user data will be stored on Oracle-operated servers within the US, safeguarding against surveillance or interference by foreign adversaries. TikTok's content recommendation algorithm will be provided to the joint venture, fully inspected, and retrained by the security provider on US user data, to be operated by the US entity.
The official noted that ByteDance's share would drop below 20% to comply with US law, which requires TikTok to have a US owner or face a ban. President Donald Trump has delayed any ban multiple times since taking office. The White House will not hold a golden share or equity position in the joint venture, nor will the board have a seat selected by the government.
President Trump is expected to sign an executive order declaring the deal's terms align with US national security interests and extend the moratorium on TikTok's US ban for 120 days, allowing time for the deal's implementation. ByteDance will then sign a framework agreement with at least one managing investor as regulatory reviews are finalized.
While the valuation of TikTok's US operations remains unclear, the official estimated it would amount to "many billions of dollars." The final investor consortium's establishment will determine the exact valuation, which will be included in the deal's final implementation documents.