US investors have seemingly been granted approval to take control of TikTok‘s US operations after a recent call between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“I just completed a very productive call with President Xi of China”, Trump posted on Truth Social. “We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal”.
Trump also posted he plans to meet with Xi at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC), which takes place next month in South Korea.
“The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!”, Trump added.
Bloomberg reported a readout of the call by Chinese officials stated Xi told Trump his government respects the wishes of businesses on ByteDance-owned TikTok and he would like to see the parties find a resolution for the sale of its US assets.
Due to national security concerns, TikTok’s US prospects have been up in the air since legislation passed in 2024 to ban the service unless a domestic buyer was found.
China officials have long opposed losing control of the algorithm behind TikTok to foreign entities. This meeting between Trump and Xi didn’t say who will own the algorithm or what US companies are in the running to take over its US operations.
On the 20th September various news sites reported the US will have control of the algorithm and six of the seven board seats of the US entity.
CNN reported on the 21st September that tech and media leaders such as Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison, Dell CEO and chairman Michael Dell and Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch are part of the group which will take over the the algorithm.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported a group of new TikTok investors and existing backers will own roughly 80 per cent of the entity, with ByteDance’s ownership dropping below 20 per cent.
During a UK visit on Thursday with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump stated TikTok helped get him elected to his second term due to the turnout of young voters, after opposing it in his first term, according to WSJ.
The news site stated Oracle co-founder and Trump ally Larry Ellison could be involved in the revamped TikTok while his company could handle its US-based user data.
On the 15th September Trump and members of his administration announced a framework was in place to split off TikTok’s US operations.
The Trump administration has repeatedly delayed its deadline for ByteDance to divest its US operations or face a nationwide ban. Since January, the deadline has been extended four times.
Source: Mobile World Live
Image Credit: Stock Image
