TikTok Ban: Trump Could OK Deal For Investors To Take Majority Stake In TikTok U.S.

The White House is close to approving a deal that would allow a group of investors to buy a stake in TikTok’s U.S. operations, according to a report from the Financial Times. The reported deal to avoid a potential TikTok ban comes days before a deadline. The app’s Chinese ownership is required to sell the company before the deadline.

Under the deal, a list of investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Blackstone, Silver Lake and other large private capital firms would own roughly half of TikTok’s U.S. business, the report said. The Financial Times cited people familiar with the matter. The Information also reported Wednesday afternoon that a deal involving new investors was close.

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Oracle (ORCL), meanwhile, would secure TikTok’s U.S. user data, according to the report.

TikTok’s China-based owner ByteDance would retain a stake at just below 20% of the business, per the report. A “point of contention” remains over who would control the video-recommendation algorithm developed by TikTok. The Chinese government wants the algorithm to remain under ByteDance with the new TikTok U.S. owner licensing the technology, according to the Financial Times.

TikTok is available for American users under a temporary reprieve from a 2024 law that bans the short-video app unless ByteDance divests ownership. Trump delayed enforcement of the ban for 75 days on his first day in office, Jan. 20, allowing TikTok to restart operations for its more than 170 million U.S. users after a brief shutdown.

The deal is still under review and plans could change. The deal could also require “months of further diligence,” according to the report.

TikTok Ban: Amazon, AppLovin Last-Minute Bids

There were a couple surprise bids ahead of the April 5 deadline. Amazon (AMZN) reportedly made an offer, as did mobile app advertising platform AppLovin (APP).

The bid with new investors is still seen as the front-runner, however, according to the Financial Times.

Amazon stock gained 2% to close at 196.01 on the stock market today. AppLovin gained 2.7% to close at 290.39. Oracle stock gained 2.8% to close at 145.86.

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