Platform
TikTok Buyer Secured, Identity Known In Two Weeks
A buyer for TikTok has been secured, with an official announcement expected within two weeks. Speaking on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump described the potential purchasers as “a group of very wealthy people” without disclosing specific identities.
“We have a buyer for TikTok, by the way. I think I’ll need probably China approval, and I think [Chinese] President Xi will probably do it,” Trump told host Maria Bartiromo.
This development comes after Trump signed a third executive order on June 19 extending the deadline for ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to sell its U.S. operations. The current extension pushes the deadline to September 17, marking 90 additional days for the deal to be completed.
The social media platform has operated under a series of extensions since January, when the sale-or-ban legislation technically took effect. TikTok briefly went offline for approximately 14 hours before Trump signed his first delay order as one of his initial acts upon returning to office.
Deal Complications
A potential agreement that would transfer majority control to American ownership has faced multiple obstacles. Previous negotiations stalled in April after Trump announced additional tariffs on Chinese imports.
“We were pretty close to a deal for TikTok,” Trump stated in April. “And then China changed the deal because of tariffs.”
ByteDance has indicated that “key matters” remain unresolved, noting that “any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.” The Chinese government has suggested that it would not approve any deal that includes TikTok’s algorithm, which industry experts consider essential to the platform’s functionality.
Several potential buyers have reportedly shown interest in acquiring TikTok’s U.S. operations, including a group led by billionaire Frank McCourt, Amazon, AI firm Perplexity, AppLovin, investor Kevin O’Leary, and content creator MrBeast.
The ongoing extensions ensure the platform remains accessible to its reported 170 million American users while negotiations continue between U.S. and Chinese officials.
