Trump has given approval to Walmart (WMT) and Oracle (ORCL) to secure it’s US data. Tiktok plans to go public in the US.
China’s ByteDance is planning a U.S. initial public offering of TikTok Global, the new company that will operate the popular short video app, should its proposed deal be cleared by the U.S. government.
Trump ordered ByteDance last month to divest TikTok amid U.S. concerns that the personal data of as many as 100 million Americans who use the app could be passed on to China’s Communist Party government. On Wednesday, he reiterated he was opposed to ByteDance retaining majority ownership of TikTok.
The new company, dubbed TikTok Global, will have a majority of American directors, a U.S. chief executive and a security expert on the board, the source added. Oracle has agreed to eventually own a 20% stake in the company, according to the source. If Walmart also successfully negotiates acquiring a stake, its CEO, Doug McMillon, would get a seat on TikTok Global’s board, the source said.
The Chinese company would reportedly retain the algorithm that underpins the app but Oracle would oversee its implementation and processing in the U.S.
Kevin Systrom, the founder of Facebook (FB) subsidiary Instagram, is said to be under consideration as the new CEO of the emergent company.
A potential TikTok IPO would likely mark the largest technology IPO in recent years, with the company being most recently valued at an estimated $50 billion in private funding rounds,
