Abu Dhabi royal family to take 15% stake as Trump brokers $14bn TikTok US deal
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The Abu Dhabi royal family is set to acquire a stake in TikTok’s US business as part of a deal brokered through an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump, and the arrangement values the social media platform’s American arm at $14bn (£10.5bn).
The investment will come through MGX, a fund chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, which will secure a 15 per cent stake along with a seat on the board once TikTok US is spun out as a separate entity, The Guardian reported.
The deal has been structured to bring significant American ownership and control, with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX together holding about 45 per cent of TikTok US, while overall, US companies are expected to control just over 65 per cent.
In addition, investors such as Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox have been identified as participants, and ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, will retain a 19.9 per cent stake in the American operation.
Trump signed the executive order late on Thursday, and the decision provides a 120-day window to finalise the details, while the move follows prolonged uncertainty over TikTok’s future in the United States after Congress passed legislation last year requiring ByteDance to divest the platform.
The order is intended to ensure that TikTok is operated by American investors and to address long-standing concerns about national security and data privacy.
Although China has not explicitly confirmed whether it will approve the arrangement, Trump indicated that discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping were positive and that Beijing had signalled a willingness to allow the deal.
US Vice President JD Vance confirmed the valuation and acknowledged that there had been resistance from the Chinese side, but he emphasised that the final outcome safeguarded American users’ data while ensuring the app could continue to operate in the country.
The $14bn valuation of TikTok’s US business is modest compared with ByteDance’s overall estimated value of $330bn and far below Meta’s valuation of $1.8tn, yet the deal marks a significant step in resolving tensions surrounding the app’s ownership.