Oracle and Microsoft in talks to take over TikTok under Trump administration plan: Report

Donald Trump administration is working on a plan to save TikTok by tapping Oracle and a group of outside investors that includes Microsoft to take control of the short-video app, according to an NPR report citing sources. TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance is said to retain a minority stake in the company, but the reported deal could see the app’s algorithm, data collection and software updates controlled by Oracle.

A meeting between White House officials and Oracle executives is said to have taken place on Friday to discuss the potential deal, with another meeting scheduled for next week. Under the agreement, TikTok’s American investors could own a majority stake in the app. However, the report adds that the terms of the deal are still being worked out and are subject to change at this stage.

“The goal is for Oracle to effectively monitor and provide oversight with what is going on with TikTok,…ByteDance wouldn’t completely go away, but it would minimize Chinese ownership.” a source quoted by NPR said.

What price will TikTok sell?

White House negotiators have reportedly said that ByteDance believes it could get at least $200 billion for TikTok, which could put the app out of reach of any of the investor consortiums that have been promoting their bids.

Notably, TikTok was briefly taken offline in the US for around 14 hours in order to comply with a US federal law that requires its Chinese parent company ByteDance to make a “qualified divestiture” of the company in order for the app to continue operating in the US. After Trump was sworn in on 20 January, he gave TikTok another 75 days to comply with the federal law.

“My initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose,” Trump had wrote on his social media website Truth Social ahead of signing the executive order.