TikTok has narrowly avoided a ban in the United States after former President Donald Trump approved a $14 billion deal handing majority control of the app’s American operations to US-based investors. The move, finalized through an executive order on Thursday, marks a major shift in TikTok’s ownership structure, reducing Chinese parent company ByteDance’s influence and aiming to resolve long-standing national security concerns.

According to reports, the newly created entity will be backed by a consortium of investors led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund. Together, these players will control about 45 percent of TikTok’s US business. Another 35 percent will be shared among ByteDance’s existing international backers and new American shareholders. ByteDance itself will hold less than 20 percent of the venture, ensuring that control rests firmly in American hands.

Trump emphasized that the deal would transform TikTok into what he called a “complete American operation.” He added that Oracle’s co-founder Larry Ellison has been directly involved in the negotiations and will play a central role in managing the platform’s future. Under the new arrangement, Oracle will not only be an investor but also oversee TikTok’s data security and cloud hosting responsibilities — a key demand from US regulators who have repeatedly raised concerns over how user data was being handled under Chinese ownership.

“This is going to be run by Americans,” Trump stated while announcing the decision, pointing to Oracle’s leadership role as a guarantee of user data safety.

However, questions remain about the valuation of the deal. While the agreement values TikTok’s American business at $14 billion, analysts had earlier pegged the figure at between $30 billion and $35 billion. Just last month, ByteDance as a whole was valued at nearly $330 billion, raising doubts about whether the agreed figure truly reflects TikTok’s market potential. As of now, ByteDance has not issued an official statement on the transaction, and the precise financial details remain under wraps.

The executive order also extended the deadline for completing the divestment process. ByteDance now has until December 16 to finalize the new ownership structure without facing penalties under US national security law. Trump also claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had given his approval to the deal after initial reluctance, clearing one of the biggest hurdles for its execution.

The decision represents a pivotal moment for TikTok, one of the world’s most widely used social media platforms. With Oracle in charge of security operations and US investors in the driver’s seat, the deal is being positioned as a safeguard against national security risks while keeping TikTok accessible to millions of American users.

While the announcement provides clarity for now, much depends on how the final transaction unfolds and whether Beijing’s approval holds firm as the December deadline approaches.