Translated with AI
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order transferring a controlling stake in the social network TikTok to American investors, Interfax reported.
"I have great respect for Xi Jinping and I really appreciate him approving the deal because we really needed China's support and approval to get this done properly," Trump told reporters at the White House.
Under the new framework agreement outlined in the decree, TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance and its affiliates will own less than 20% of the app's shares.
At the same time, 80% of the shares will remain with American investors.
"The TikTok app in the United States will be operated by a newly formed joint venture based in the United States. The company will be majority owned and controlled by U.S. persons and will no longer be controlled by any foreign adversary, as ByteDance Ltd. and its affiliates will own less than 20% of the company, with the remainder held by certain investors," the order released by the White House states.
It's unclear who is involved in the deal, but Trump said during the executive order signing that Oracle and its co-founder Larry Ellison would play a "big" role.
The American leader added that Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell and media mogul Rupert Murdoch will also be involved in the deal.
An executive order issued Thursday extended to January 23 the deadline by which TikTok's parent company must sell its U.S. operations or cease operations in the United States.
The issue of TikTok's algorithm has long complicated the deal. U.S. law stipulating the sale of the social network prohibits ByteDance from playing any operational role in the new U.S. app, TikTok, including its algorithm. Meanwhile, Chinese law prohibits the export of such "sensitive" technologies.
Last week, Trump held a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "We made progress on many important issues, including trade, fentanyl, the need to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, and approval of the TikTok deal," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
