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iewgnem

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zbb said:

A TikTok deal has finally been reached with China, the Trump administration says​

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A deal has been reached between the Trump administration and China to keep TikTok operational in the United States, administration officials announced Monday, concluding a yearslong effort that began during President Donald Trump’s first term.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that a framework agreement has been reached, and Trump will speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping Friday to finalize the deal. The agreement and conversation is a precursor to a Trump-Xi meeting that both sides have sought for months, US officials said Monday after a framework plan was announced.
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The Trump administration did not name the US-backed buyer, but the group is widely expected to be led by Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison, who last week
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. Trump in January had said he would champion Ellison, a Trump supporter, buying the app’s US assets.
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Trump didn't name a US backed buyer because nobody can buy something China export controlled, Americans really struggle with this concept don't they.

The only thing they can agree on, the only thing China will allow and the only thing Americans really care about is censoring anti-Israel content for American users, which China is fine with in principle, and in practice also meaningless because all real anti-Israel content are put out by Israel itself without any self awareness.
 
zbb

zbb

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iewgnem said:
Trump didn't name a US backed buyer because nobody can buy something China export controlled, Americans really struggle with this concept don't they.

The only thing they can agree on, the only thing China will allow and the only thing Americans really care about is censoring anti-Israel content for American users, which China is fine with in principle, and in practice also meaningless because all real anti-Israel content are put out by Israel itself without any self awareness.
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TikTok is currently 100% owned by ByteDance, but about
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is owned by "global" (i.e. American) VC and investment firms such as Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, BlackRock, etc.

I think one way an acceptable deal can be structured is as some type of share swap between shares of ByteDance and shares of TikTok, with American investors acquiring direct ownership shares of Tiktok in exchange for reducing their ownership shares in either ByteDance or the Chinese Douyin subsidiary of ByteDance.
 
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iewgnem

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zbb said:
TikTok is currently 100% owned by ByteDance, but about
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is owned by "global" (i.e. American) VC and investment firms such as Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, BlackRock, etc.

I think one way an acceptable deal can be structured is as some type of share swap between shares of ByteDance and shares of TikTok, with American investors acquiring direct ownership shares of Tiktok in exchange for reducing their ownership shares in either ByteDance or the Chinese Douyin subsidiary of ByteDance.
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I mean, if US want to give ByteDance money in addition to giving up that's their choice.
At end of the day China already said export control rules will always apply, so everything else is just Trump looking for a face saving way out.
 
zbb

zbb

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iewgnem said:
I mean, if US want to give ByteDance money in addition to giving up that's their choice.
At end of the day China already said export control rules will always apply, so everything else is just Trump looking for a face saving way out.
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Yep, it's all about face saving for Trump and the US.

Trump previously mentioned that he wants to turn Tiktok into a joint venture with 50% American ownership, which is of course silly as Americans already own 60% of ByteDance.

This is also why China didn't care about US threats of banning/seizing Tiktok's US operations on national security grounds because if that happened China would have justification to confiscate all shares of ByteDance owned by Americans on similar national security grounds. Since 80% of ByteDance revenue comes from China and only 8% comes from the US, that would have been a great exchange for China.

BTW, Susquehanna International Group, one of the largest shareholders in ByteDance, is owned by Jeff Yass, one of Trump's biggest political donors.
 
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tamsen_ikard

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Registered Member
zbb said:
Yep, it's all about face saving for Trump and the US.

Trump previously mentioned that he wants to turn Tiktok into a joint venture with 50% American ownership, which is of course silly as Americans already own 60% of ByteDance.

This is also why China didn't care about US threats of banning/seizing Tiktok's US operations on national security grounds because if that happened China would have justification to confiscate all shares of ByteDance owned by Americans on similar national security grounds. Since 80% of ByteDance revenue comes from China and only 8% comes from the US, that would have been a great exchange for China.
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I don't think US investor owning shares of a Chinese company (subject to Chinese rules) is the same as a Chinese company selling its US operations including algorithm, data, user base to a US entity subject to US laws.

I don't think China cares if entirety of bytedance is owned by US investors since the company will still be based in China and all its employee base will be in China.

But bytedance selling its US operations entirely is a different thing.
 
zbb

zbb

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Registered Member
tamsen_ikard said:
I don't think US investor owning shares of a Chinese company (subject to Chinese rules) is the same as a Chinese company selling its US operations including algorithm, data, user base to a US entity subject to US laws.

I don't think China cares if entirety of bytedance is owned by US investors since the company will still be based in China and all its employee base will be in China.

But bytedance selling its US operations entirely is a different thing.
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Both Tiktok and its parent ByteDance are incorporated in the Cayman Islands, so neither are Chinese entities to start with (but ByteDance's Chinese subsidiary Douyin is a Chinese entity). Tiktok is headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore and its US operations are already subject to US laws.
 
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