The Abu Dhabi royal family is set to acquire a stake in TikTok’s US operations, according to reports, following an executive order from US President Donald Trump that cleared the way for the sale of TikTok’s US assets to predominantly American investors.
Trump approved the deal, marking a shift toward US ownership and control of the platform, and provided a 120-day window to finalize the transaction. “I had a very good talk with President Xi [Jinping] about TikTok and other matters. He gave us the go-ahead,” Trump said during the signing ceremony.
MGX, a fund led by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan—the UAE’s national security adviser and a leading business figure—will take a 15% stake in TikTok US and secure a seat on the board, according to The Guardian.
American companies are expected to hold just over 65% of TikTok US, while MGX, Oracle (led by Larry Ellison), and private equity firm Silver Lake will collectively control around 45% of the company. Other investors named by Trump include Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch.
“TikTok US will be majority-owned and controlled by American investors and will no longer be under the control of any foreign adversary,” Trump stated. “Highly sophisticated investors, including Larry Ellison, will run it. This will be an American-operated company through and through.”
TikTok US Valued at $14 Billion
ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, will retain a 19.9% stake in the US operations. The executive order is expected to confirm that the deal qualifies as a divestiture under last year’s bipartisan “ban-or-sale” legislation, which requires ByteDance to sell approximately 80% of its US assets to non-Chinese investors. The law took effect in January, though Trump has repeatedly delayed its enforcement.
US Vice President JD Vance said the agreement values TikTok US at $14 billion. “There was some resistance on the Chinese side. Our goal was to keep TikTok operational while ensuring Americans’ data privacy is fully protected under the law,” he explained.
China has yet to publicly comment on or confirm whether it will approve the transaction. Notably, the $14 billion valuation of TikTok US is far below ByteDance’s overall valuation, estimated at roughly $330 billion, according to The Guardian.
