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United States President Donald Trump said Sunday that prominent tech and media leaders, including Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, and Fox Corp. executives Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, will join a consortium set to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations.
“You know, they’re very well-known people. And Larry Ellison is one of them. He’s involved. He’s a great guy. Michael Dell is involved. I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved,” Trump said on Fox News’ Sunday Briefing, adding that Rupert Murdoch “is probably going to be in the group.”
The United States has forcefully sought to take TikTok’s U.S. operations out of the hands of Chinese parent company ByteDance for national security reasons. Since returning to power in January, Trump has repeatedly delayed implementation of the ban while a deal was sought.
He has negotiated with Beijing to sell the platform’s U.S. operations to a consortium of investors he describes as “patriots,” including Oracle’s Ellison and entrepreneur Michael Dell. On Sunday, he added Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch to that list.
Earlier this month, right-wing media mogul Murdoch’s children reached a settlement in their long-running legal dispute over control of the media empire, cementing his eldest son Lachlan’s leadership. Lachlan Murdoch, who officially took control of Fox News and News Corp. as part of the deal, is Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son. The elder Murdoch built a conservative media empire spanning the United States, Britain and Australia.
On Saturday, the White House said the board of the new company that would control TikTok’s U.S. operations would be dominated by American citizens, and that a deal could be signed “in the coming days.”
The plan follows an April 2024 law requiring ByteDance to sell about 80% of its U.S. assets to American investors or face a nationwide ban. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Oracle will oversee U.S. data and privacy with a seven-member board, “six of whom will be American.”
Trump also said he had “a very productive call” with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, signaling progress toward finalizing the deal.
Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that China’s position on the TikTok issue is clear, emphasizing the government’s respect for the will of enterprises. According to state media outlet Xinhua, the ministry said it welcomes companies to conduct business negotiations in line with market rules and Chinese laws, balancing the interests of all parties.
The ministry added that it hopes the United States will move in the same direction, honor its commitments, and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies, including TikTok. It said this would help promote “stable, healthy and sustainable development” of China-U.S. economic and trade relations.
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