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President Donald Trump says he has found a “very wealthy group” to buy Tiktok’s US business as part of an effort to separate ownership of social media platforms from China.
“We have a Tiktok buyer. I think it’s probably necessary to have China’s approval. I think President XI will probably do that,” Trump told Fox News in an interview on Sunday.
The US government has repeatedly delayed deadlines by Tiktok owners, selling American businesses on video sharing apps and banning them nationwide in the US. The latest deadline is September 17th, with three pushes back from the early days of January.
Trump, who praised Tiktok for linking him to younger voters in the 2024 election, said he will provide details for buyers next month.
“We’ll talk about it in about two weeks. It’s a group of very wealthy people,” he added.
In April, the Financial Times reported that the White House had contracted with a group of US investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Blackstone, Silver Lake and other large private capital companies.
Large existing investors in Tiktok, including Atlantic General, Susquehanna, KKR and Kote, have also placed bets on the US arm, accounting for around 30% of the business.
As Trump signaled, any deals and must be approved by the Chinese government. China has previously said it would block the sale, and Trump’s tariffs on China in April apparently halted negotiations.
Another area of competition is whether Baitedan and China are willing to abandon control of Tiktok’s algorithm, the underlying technology that determines what users see on the platform.
Some analysts have suggested that US entities need to manage their algorithms to meet the requirements of executive orders to implement closure or sale of Tiktok.
Tiktok’s algorithms are listed in the official Chinese algorithm database, and the export of its own highly popular technology could attract enhanced local scrutiny.
Tiktok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Additional Reports by Stefania Palma
