TikTok disagrees if ByteDance keeps control
Donald Trump said Monday that he would not validate a deal on the popular TikTok app if Chinese parent company ByteDance retained control of the new entity.
Share September 21, 2020 10:32 am Updated at 11:30 pm Share No agreement for TikTok if ByteDance retains control Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON – Donald Trump said on Monday that he would not validate a deal on the popular TikTok app if the house Chinese mother ByteDance retained control of the new entity.
If Oracle and Walmart “don't take full control (of the new entity), then we won't approve the deal,” the US president said on Fox News as confusion reigns over who the Americans or the Chinese hold ultimately the majority.
Asked whether ByteDance could keep 80% of the shareholding, the US president was uncompromising: “If they do, we simply won't close the deal.”
Oracle and Walmart “have a partnership” for TikTok. “They will buy it”, “they will have total control”, however assured the host of the White House. “They will hold the majority stake,” he added.
TikTok has been under threat since the summer of a ban in the United States, where it has 100 million users, but which Washington accuses, without providing any evidence, of spying on behalf of Beijing.
TikTok, a very popular app among young people, confirmed a plan on Saturday that it would create a new company involving Oracle as a technology partner in the United States and Walmart as a business partner.
Called TikTok Global, it would be based in the United States and would hire 25,000 people, Oracle and Walmart said in a separate statement.
Oracle could buy 12.5% stake in TikTok and Walmart 7.5% before a future listing on the New York Stock Exchange scheduled within a year.
A source familiar with the matter had told AFP that ByteDance would keep the rest of the capital. But since the Chinese company is 40% owned by American investors, the majority of the application would ultimately pass under the American flag.
