Oracle, Silver Lake would play key roles in TikTok deal between Trump administration and China
Technology company Oracle is among a consortium of firms that would enable TikTok to continue operations in the U.S. if a framework deal between the United States and China to take over the social media company is finalized, sources with knowledge of the negotiations tell CBS News.
The precise structure of the final deal was unclear Monday night, but will include multiple companies, the sources said. It's not clear what level of involvement Chinese firms — including TikTok's current parent company ByteDance — will have in the deal, and who will control TikTok's powerful recommendation algorithm. Presidents Trump and Xi are expected to talk on Friday.
The deal includes a blend of new investors, including Silver Lake, a private equity firm based in California, and existing investors, the sources said.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday morning declined to say which companies are purchasing TikTok, but said they will be announcing that soon.
"We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it," Mr. Trump said. "And, you know, the kids wanted it so badly. I had parents calling me up. They don't want it for themselves. They want it for their kids. They say, if I don't get it done, they're in big trouble with their kids."
Oracle declined to comment. A TikTok spokesperson declined to comment. A spokesperson for Silver Lake didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington responded on Tuesday morning that China will "firmly defend its national interests, the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, and will carry out technology export approvals according to relevant laws and regulations."
The statement continued that the Chinese government "also fully respects the will of enterprises and supports them in conducting business negotiations on an equal footing in accordance with market principles."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday in Madrid after meetings with Chinese officials on a range of issues, including TikTok, that the commercial terms had been agreed upon.
Oracle — the tech company co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison — has long been seen as a possible buyer if the U.S. government forced a TikTok sale. Mr. Trump has described Ellison as a friend. (Larry Ellison's son, David Ellison, is the chairman & CEO of Paramount Skydance, which is the parent company of CBS. The Ellison Family owns a controlling interest in Paramount Skydance.)
In 2020, Mr. Trump endorsed a deal that would see Oracle and Walmart taking a 20% stake in a U.S.-based entity called TikTok Global. And in recent years, as TikTok has sought to regain trust with American users and regulators, it has partnered with Oracle to route U.S. TikTok users' activity through the Texas-based company's servers.
Mr. Trump was circumspect about a deal with reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. "We may let it die, or we may, I don't know, it depends. Up to China. It doesn't matter too much. I'd like to do it for the kids. They like it."
Last year, Congress passed and then-President Joe Biden signed a bill that essentially gave TikTok's China-based parent company, ByteDance, an ultimatum: either divest from TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. The Supreme Court upheld the law in a unanimous 9-0 decision. But Mr. Trump has issued a series of orders unilaterally delaying its enforcement. The latest came in June, when he pushed back the deadline for enforcing the measure until this Wednesday.
The president's orders have directed the Justice Department not to take action or impose penalties against tech companies such asApple and Google for failing to comply with the law by offering the TikTok app on their platforms.
The TikTok divestiture law was passed in 2024 after years of bipartisan concern over possible national security risks posed by the ultra-popular video app. Those include worries that the Chinese government could force ByteDance to divulge information on U.S.-based users or manipulate the platform's algorithm to control what Americans see. TikTok has long denied that the Chinese authorities exert any influence on the platform.
The concerns stretch back to Mr. Trump's first term. The president signed an executive order to ban TikTok in the U.S. in 2020 on national security and data privacy grounds, but the move was blocked by a judge. Four years later, Mr. Trump changed his view and expressed support for the app, which he has credited for his improved performance among younger voters in last year's election.
