TikTok U.S. buyers reportedly revealed
TikTok's long, winding saga of dealing with a potential ban in the United States appears to be advancing toward a resolution.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that U.S. buyers and TikTok were working toward "finalizing" a framework for a deal in which a U.S. entity would own an 80 percent stake in the company while Chinese shareholders would own the rest. The story also revealed that the potential buyers were Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz.
Oracle, a software and cloud giant, has long been connected to TikTok as a potential purchaser. Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) are both huge names in tech investing. It's worth noting that the companies and their leaders have connections with the Trump administration, which has obviously been closely involved with the potential deal. President Donald Trump even said he'd like Oracle co-founder "Larry [Ellison] to buy it." Marc Andreessen, co-founder of a16z, morphed into a staunch Trump supporter after years as a Democrat.
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The potential deal has been a long time coming. After multiple threats of a ban, pushed deadlines, and long lulls with no news, this deal appears to be heading toward the finish line. It appears the Trump administration is happy with the end result.
"A deal was also reached on a 'certain' company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save," Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social. "They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one!!!"
Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).
