(PatrioticPost.com)- President Donald Trump has approved a deal between Bytedance, the Chinese parent company of popular social media app Tik Tok, and Walmart and Oracle. The deal will see the two American companies take over Tik Tok operations in the United States, while the Chinese parent company will maintain ownership of the algorithms used by the app.
President Trump’s approval of the deal means that the app will be allowed to continue operating in the United States, giving millions of people continued access to the short videos published on the social media platform.
“I have given the deal my blessing,” President Trump told journalists outside the White House before leaving for North Carolina. “If they get it done that’s great, if they don’t that’s okay too. I approved the deal in concept.”
Talks between Bytedance and various American tech companies have been ongoing for weeks, with Microsoft previously being considered the frontrunner in discussions. The American tech giant reportedly offered to purchase TikTok entirely for billions of dollars, but the deal was rejected in favor of the partnership offered by Oracle and Walmart.
Had a deal not been finalized, TikTok would have been effectively banned in the United States. President Trump set a time frame for the sale of the company earlier this year, requiring his administration’s concerns about data sharing and security to be addressed by any potential deal. As a result of the Walmart-Oracle deal, the prohibition of American companies doing transactions with TikTok and Bytedance has now been delayed until Sunday while the deal is reviewed and officially approved.
In a statement, TikTok announced that they are pleased the deal “will resolve the security concerns of the US Administration and settle questions around TikTok’s future in the US.”
— TikTok_Comms (@tiktok_comms) September 19, 2020
Under the deal, Bytedance will own 80% of TikTok, and Walmart and Oracle will “take part in a TikTok Global pre-IPO financing round in which they can take up to a 20% cumulative stake in the company.”
The company will “maintain and expand TikTok Global’s headquarters in the US while bringing 25,000 jobs across the country.”
40% of Bytedance, which will maintain majority ownership of TikTok, is currently owned by American venture capital firms. That means, technically, TikTok Global is now a majority-American-owned business.
