Private equity titans KKR & Co. and Blackstone Inc. are among the buyout firms said to be part of a group offering a massive $90 billion to buy the U.S. operations of viral video-sharing app TikTok from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., in a deal that could shake up global social media, according to various media reports.
That new push for a sale is occurring as TikTok is confronting a potential ban in the United States over national security concerns.
High-Risk Gamble Under Current Geopolitical Conditions
The stratospheric valuation is further evidence of the extraordinary perceived worth of TikTok’s U.S. business, with its more than 170 million American users and over $12 billion in ad sales in 2024. The offer is being spearheaded by a group that also involves Oracle Corp.
And venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. This isn’t the first time the group has tried to buy up TikTok’s U.S. operations. One such transaction, which would have given new outside investors half of TikTok’s US business and reduced ByteDance’s holding to below 20%, reportedly fell through in April when China refused to sign off its approval (paywall), after the US had applied a previous round of tariffs.
The current acquisition negotiations are being held under intense pressure. A law signed by then-President Joe Biden in the past year required ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations by the deadline of January 19, 2025, or be forced to shut it down.
Though the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the law, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has continued to delay the deadline (most recently to mid-September), hoping to broker a deal that would “save TikTok” for Americans.
Oracle’s Role and Data Security
One of the linchpins of the proposed deal is for Oracle Corp. to have a minority stake and provide assurances on the security of user data. Oracle already supplies the cloud infrastructure for TikTok in the U.S. under previous agreements, which were adopted months ago in an effort to allay concerns that Chinese authorities could obtain access to information from the app.
The new deal would probably entrench and expand Oracle’s oversight of U.S. user data and software updates to meet American national security needs.
Challenges and Chinese Approval
EVEN as it is, any deal is heavily conditioned – conditional on the approval of various players, including the Chinese government and its president, Xi Jinping, who must now struggle with the mixed feelings of dealing with an American president who demonstrates enough unpredictability to be dangerous.
China has repeated its “principled position” on TikTok matters, saying business conduct, including mergers and acquisitions, must follow market rules and respect international laws and Chinese laws. Beijing has previously signalled resistance to a forced sale of TikTok, especially of its core algorithm, which it has called a national asset.
The $90 billion number is a hefty premium over earlier valuations, which had the value of TikTok’s United States business ranging from $20 billion to $150 billion, depending on what terms and technology were involved.
Representatives for Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, ByteDance and TikTok either did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment, and neither KKR nor Blackstone have publicly commented on the matter, but during an interview last week, President Trump said he would be announcing the group of buyers “in about two weeks’ time”.
The weeks ahead will be crucial as the two sides try to unwind geopolitical complexities and navigate regulatory impediments to consummate a deal that could set the future of one of the world’s most influential social media platforms in the U.S. market.
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