United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, declaring his intention to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to American and global investors.
As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law, which would otherwise ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.
Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion. “We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will decide about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said. Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.
Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.
“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.
He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.
