Donald Trump proposes 50% American shareholding

After demanding his ban, Donald Trump could finally save the future of TikTok. The man who will become the 47th President of the United States on Monday has once again made a statement in favor of the social network. He has, in fact, announced this Sunday that he would issue a decree on Monday to suspend the law.

The latter was passed by Congress by a large majority in April 2024, forcing TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the application under penalty of ban. What it has always, officially, refused to do even though several investors have come forward. TikTok tried to prevent the law from coming into force by appealing to the US Supreme Court.

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But last Friday, the latter unanimously refused to suspend it. The nine senior magistrates considered that the concerns of Congress “ in matters of national security were well founded “. American elected officials had, in fact, justified the passing of the law by the need to prevent the Chinese authorities from accessing the data of American users or from manipulating opinion in the United States. Likewise, the White House estimated on Friday that “law enforcement (should) return to the next government, which will take office on Monday”according to a statement from spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre.

The law theoretically required service providers to block downloads and updates during the night from Saturday to Sunday from midnight (Sunday at 6 a.m. Paris time), under penalty of very heavy fines. But the company itself has made its short video application inaccessible since Saturday. “A law banning TikTok has been implemented in the United Statescan be read by users when attempting to log in. This means you can no longer use TikTok for now ».

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office,” it is nevertheless written. “Stay tuned!” “. Because Donald Trump had already recently declared that he would study the matter closely once invested and that a “90 day postponement (would) probably be decreed”. “If I decide, it will probably be Monday”he said, during an interview with NBC. The text of the law provides, in fact, the possibility for the Head of State to postpone implementation for 90 days while finding a buyer. But this postponement is only theoretically possible if tangible elements make a sale credible.

Read also From enemy to savior, how Trump turned his coat around on TikTok

The future American president also mentioned TikTok during a telephone conversation on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. And the boss of the social network, Shou Chew, is one of the guests of honor for his inauguration ceremony.

This Sunday, he even encouraged internet providers and application stores to immediately restore access to TikTok, promising that his decree would retroactively protect them against possible sanctions. The law provides, in fact, for very heavy fines for these technical service providers, up to $5,000 per user for application stores. I ask companies not to leave TikTok in the dark!urged the real estate developer on his Truth Social network.

The salvation that could be offered by Donald Trump would come through “a 50% American shareholding for the TikTok subsidiary in the United States”, he announced this Sunday. In other words, « a joint company 50% controlled by Americans “, he indicated. “ Without an American agreement, there is no TikTok. With our validation, this is worth several hundred billions, or even trillions », Estimated the future head of state.

Several investors interested in TikTok

If ByteDance has, until now, always refused to sell its application as requested by the American government, TikTok has attracted the interest of several buyers. Businessman Frank McCourt said he was ready to put $20 billion on the table with other partners for the application’s American activities, without its powerful algorithm.

In addition, the artificial intelligence start-up, Perplexity AI, submitted a merger offer to the Chinese group on Saturday with the American subsidiary of the social network TikTok, a source close to the matter told AFP. Launched in late 2022 and backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Perplexity AI combines an AI assistant and a search engine to find information on the internet. It wants to be a competitor to the big search engines, primarily Google.

The project, initially revealed by the American channel CNBC, provides for the creation of a new entity which would bring together the assets of Perplexity AI and TikTok USA, the source said. The securities of this holding company would be distributed, in part, to the existing shareholders of Perplexity AI and ByteDance, the balance going to new investors ready to acquire a stake in the new group. ByteDance shareholders not wishing to participate in this new structure would have their shares bought back. Currently, around 60% of ByteDance’s capital is distributed among institutional investors, while 20% is held by the company’s founders and 20% by its employees.

“The transaction proposed by Perplexity AI does not give an amount for TikTok, but I do not see a deal happening at a valuation lower than $50 billion”estimated the source close to the matter. Given the nature of the operation, very little money would actually change hands, the idea being to award the stakeholders shares in the new conglomerate. This union would allow Perplexity AI to enrich the content offered to its users, according to the source.