Catenaa, Wednesday, September 24, 2025- President Donald Trump indicated this weekend that media moguls Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch may participate in the investment group acquiring TikTok’s US operations from ByteDance.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump said Lachlan Murdoch is “involved” and Rupert Murdoch is “probably gonna be in the group,” without clarifying whether the involvement is personal or through Fox Corp.
The potential investor consortium reportedly includes Oracle, with CEO Larry Ellison responsible for app security, and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell.
Private equity firm Silver Lake and venture firm Andreessen Horowitz are also expected to join, according to senior White House officials. ByteDance would retain less than 20% of the restructured company, which will be majority US-controlled.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that six of seven board seats for the new TikTok US entity will be held by Americans, with control over the algorithm transferred to US-based management.
Leavitt said the deal is agreed upon in principle but still requires formal signing, expected in the coming days.
The proposed spinoff follows a 2024 federal bill that threatened to ban TikTok in the US, briefly taking the app offline before Trump returned to office.
The president has repeatedly extended deadlines for ByteDance to sell TikTok to American investors.
Trump also said Chinese President Xi Jinping approved the arrangement, with ByteDance thanking both leaders for facilitating the continuation of TikTok in the US.
Industry observers note that including the Murdochs and major US tech executives could strengthen both governance and security for the app, potentially setting a precedent for future Chinese-owned platforms operating under American oversight.
