[ad_1]
(CNN) – President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he approved an agreement between TikTok’s parent company ByteDance and Oracle to temporarily bypass a ban on TikTok from U.S. app stores.
The Commerce Department confirmed in a statement Saturday night that it would delay – by a week – the restrictions that would take effect on Sunday.
Under the deal approved by Trump, ByteDance will remain the majority owner of TikTok, according to a source familiar with the matter.
However, in statements to the media, Trump explained that he approved the agreement “in concept.”
“I’ve given my thumbs up to the deal,” Trump said. If they can, it’s great. If they don’t, that’s fine too.
Trump indicated that the agreement would include Wal-Mart and added that “security will be 100 percent. They will use different clouds and very, very powerful security. “
The president also affirmed that the agreement will also include a $ 5 billion fund for education in the United States, although he did not mention which companies would contribute this sum. Trump had expressed his wish that the companies make a payment to the United States Treasury, but to his surprise, he was warned that such a process would be illegal.
The president’s green light comes hours before the Commerce Department restrictions that would remove TikTok from U.S. app stores, including those operated by Apple and Google, went into effect. The White House declined to comment.
ByteDance will remain the majority owner of TikTok under the deal Trump said he approved, the source said.
However, this contradicts the claim made by Trump to the media on Saturday that TikTok would be “fully controlled” by Wal-Mart and Oracle, who will have up to a 20% stake in TikTok, the source added.
TikTok confirmed in a statement that Oracle and Walmart together will have a 20% stake.
“As part of this proposal, Oracle will become our trusted technology provider, responsible for hosting all US user data and protecting associated computer systems to ensure that US national security requirements. . are fully enforced, “TikTok said. “Currently we also work with Wal-Mart in a trade association. Both companies will participate in a TikTok Global pre-IPO financing round in which they can acquire up to a 20% cumulative stake in the company. Likewise, we will maintain and expand the TikTok Global headquarters in the US, while generating 25,000 jobs nationwide. “
Trump also noted that TikTok would be established in Texas as a new company.
Oracle CEO Safra Catz said in a statement:
“As part of this agreement, TikTok will run on Oracle Cloud and Oracle will become a minority investor in TikTok Global.” “Oracle will rapidly deploy, develop, and operate TikTok systems on Oracle Cloud. We are one hundred percent confident in our ability to provide a highly secure environment for TikTok and to ensure data privacy for US TikTok users and users around the world. With improved security and guaranteed privacy, the rapid and continuous growth of the TikTok user community will be allowed for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Walmart said it plans to acquire a 7.5% stake in the new company and Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon will serve on its five-member board. “We are optimistic about our potential investment and business agreements with TikTok Global,” Wal-Mart said in a statement, adding that it will also “enter into business agreements to provide e-commerce, fulfillment, payments and other omnichannel services to TikTok Global.”
Speaking to the media, Trump praised executives at Walmart and Oracle, including Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison, a close political ally.
“He has the combination of Wal-Mart, obviously, the high-tech Oracle, and the genius of the two leaders of those companies, okay?” Trump said.
