TikTok in the American way: who is behind the future “national” application
22 September 2025 21:19
US President Donald Trump has named potential investors who could take control of TikTok in the US. Among them are media mogul Lachlan Murdoch, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell. This was reported by Reuters, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
The agreement provides for the creation of a new company, 80% of which will be controlled by American players. The remaining 20% will be owned by China’s ByteDance.
Who are these people?
- Lachlan Murdoch – CEO of Fox Corp, who recently consolidated control over the family’s media empire, which includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.
- Larry Ellison is the co-founder of Oracle, an influential businessman and longtime donor to the Republican Party. He will lead the group of investors.
- Michael Dell is the head of Dell Technologies, one of the largest IT companies in the United States.
- According to Trump, 94-year-old Rupert Murdoch may also participate, although formally, the Murdoch family and their companies will not invest directly.
How the new TikTok will work
Technically, it will be a new application that will have to be downloaded again. The interface will remain identical, but:
- algorithms will be controlled by the US government;
- personal data will be stored in Oracle data centers in Texas;
- a board of directors with national security powers will oversee the project.
Why it matters
The Trump administration insists that TikTok poses a threat due to the possible influence of the Chinese government. In January 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the law on the forced sale of the platform was constitutional.
Thus, the upcoming deal is not only a business issue, but also a national security issue that could determine the future of US digital culture.
It is worth reminding that in 2020, Trump tried to ban TikTok, but President Joe Biden reversed this decision.
In 2022, TikTok was banned on government devices, and the state of Montana even passed a law banning it completely, which was later overturned by the court.
In April 2025, Congress passed a law to force the sale of TikTok by January 2025. China’s ByteDance challenged this in the courts but lost in the Supreme Court.
Today, TikTok is on the verge of a reboot: from a Chinese app, it could turn into an American tech platform with global influence.
