Athira Sethu
Kochi, 26 Sep 2025
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order regarding the sale of TikTok’s U.S. business. It would be sold to U.S. and international investors to fulfill national security regulations established for 2024.
The new U.S. firm will be valued at about $14 billion, according to Vice President JD Vance, below expectations set by some analysts. Trump also postponed until January 20 the ban on TikTok unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divests its U.S. business. This allows time to complete the sale with American and foreign investors and obtain approval from China. The executive order is a step forward, but many details, such as how the U.S. business will manage TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, remain to be ironed out.
Vance described how the aim was to allow TikTok to continue operating while preserving the privacy of U.S. users. Trump added that the algorithm will be overseen by the U.S. company’s security partners and that they will be in charge. Trump further stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping endorsed the plan during a discussion between the two leaders.
The Chinese embassy and TikTok have not made a statement yet.
Trump has also attributed TikTok with contributing to his reelection, and he now has 15 million followers on the platform. The White House also has a TikTok account today. Trump promised that the U.S. business will be run entirely by Americans.
The agreement is said to include investors such as Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies, and Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox News and News Corp. The White House did not disclose how they arrived at a valuation of TikTok at $14 billion.
ByteDance, parent company of TikTok, is valued over $330 billion. Analysts, however, place TikTok without its algorithm at around $30 to $40 billion.
The deal has faced criticism from experts, particularly on ByteDance’s algorithm control over TikTok.
A consortium of investors, such as Oracle and Silver Lake, will take approximately 50% stake in TikTok U.S., and ByteDance’s existing investors will retain 30%. Details are subject to change as the negotiations progress.
Republican lawmakers are requesting additional information to ensure the deal really ends ties to China. They need to know it will keep American users safe from Chinese control.
Under the deal, ByteDance will hold one board seat in the new U.S. entity, and Americans will hold the remaining six. ByteDance’s holding will be below 20%, to satisfy the 2024 law mandating the sale of U.S. assets by January 2025.
