‘Another Backdoor Deal’? Billionaire Trump Ally Larry Ellison at Center of TikTok Spin-Off

“TikTok has officially been sold to the worst people on Earth,” wrote one activist, “and no this is not an Onion headline.”

Oracle co-founder and executive chairman Larry Ellison speaks at the White House on January 21, 2025.
(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Dec 19, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
A group of investors including Oracle—a software giant led by billionaire Trump ally and GOP megadonor Larry Ellison—is set to control TikTok’s US operations under a spin-off agreement formalized Thursday, raising concerns of undue political influence on the short-form video app used by around 170 million Americans.

TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, signed a binding deal under which Oracle, the private equity group Silver Lake, the Abu Dhabi-based firm MGX, and other investors will hold an 80.1% stake in the newly formed US TikTok entity.




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NPR reported that under the agreement, “TikTok’s US algorithm will be retrained with only Americans’ data” and “content moderation rules around what is permitted and what is not will be set by the new investor-controlled entity.”

The deal, which stems from an executive order that President Donald Trump signed in September, averts a TikTok ban in the US.

Last year, former President Joe Biden signed widely criticized legislation that would have banned the platform in the US if ByteDance did not sell it. The measure was inserted into broader legislation that included billions in military aid for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel.

US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who voted for the package that included the potential TikTok ban, called for close scrutiny of the new agreement. Warren pointed to the Trump administration’s approval earlier this year of the merger of CBS News owner Paramount and Skydance—a company run by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison.

“First Paramount/CBS and now TikTok. Trump wants to hand over even more control of what you watch to his billionaire buddies,” Warren wrote in a social media post on Thursday. “Americans deserve to know if the president struck another backdoor deal for this billionaire takeover of TikTok.”

Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, wrote in response to the deal that “TikTok has officially been sold to the worst people on Earth and no this is not an Onion headline.”

TikTok signs joint venture deal to end US ban threat

By AFP
December 18, 2025


Image: © AFP

TikTok said Thursday it had signed a joint venture deal with investors that would allow the company to maintain operations in the United States and avoid a ban threat over its Chinese ownership, US media reported.

According to an internal memo cited by Bloomberg and Axios, TikTok CEO Shou Chew told employees that the social media company as well as its Chinese owner ByteDance had agreed to the new entity, with Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX on board as major investors.

Oracle’s executive chairman and founder Larry Ellison is a longtime ally of US President Donald Trump.

Chew told staff that one-third of the US venture will be held by existing ByteDance investors, and nearly 20 percent will be retained by ByteDance – the maximum ownership allowed to a Chinese company under the terms of the law.

The new set-up for TikTok is in response to a law passed under Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, that has forced ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban in its biggest market.

US policymakers, including Trump in his first presidency, have warned that China could use TikTok to mine data from Americans or exert influence through its state-of-the-art algorithm.

Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement through successive executive orders, most recently extending the deadline until January.

The deal largely confirms a September announcement by the White House that said a new venture had been agreed with China and would meet the requirements of the 2024 law.

“Upon the closing, the US joint venture… will operate as an independent entity with authority over US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance,” Chew said in the memo, quoted by Bloomberg.


Originally launched in 2016 by Chinese tech company ByteDance, the international version TikTok was released in 2017 – Copyright AFP/File Roslan RAHMAN

Meanwhile “TikTok Global’s US entities will manage global product interoperability and certain commercial activities, including e-commerce, advertising, and marketing,” he wrote.

Whether this unit would still be owned by ByteDance was not made clear in the memo.

The memo was the first indication that TikTok had signed onto the deal announced by the Trump administration and would have required the approval of the Chinese government to proceed.

Trump in September had specifically named Oracle boss Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, as a major player in the arrangement.

Ellison has returned to the spotlight through his dealings with Trump, who has brought his old friend into major AI partnerships with OpenAI.

Ellison has also financed his son David’s recent takeover of Paramount and is involved in his son’s bidding war with Netflix to take over Warner Bros.

Volatile Oracle shares a proxy for Wall Street’s AI jitters


By AFP
December 19, 2025


Traders are keeping tabs on earnings from tech giants Oracle and Broadcom this week. — © AFP Prakash MATHEMA

Théo MARIE-COURTOIS and Nina ISENI

For a reading of Wall Street’s shifting mood on the artificial intelligence investment boom, take a look at the daily fluctuations of Oracle stock, analysts say.

Shares of the software giant slumped more than five percent Wednesday following a news report of financing troubles with one of the company’s giant AI projects.

But they recovered on Thursday and finished up around one percent at $180.03 as tech companies rallied following blowout results from Micron Technology, another big AI player.

“Oracle is probably the poster child” for the AI investment boom, said B. Riley Wealth Management’s Art Hogan, who points to questions about “circular financing” arrangements that have made Oracle and OpenAI dependent on each other for billions of dollars in business.

On Thursday, Oracle — along with Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX — was also named in a new deal with TikTok, according to an internal memo seen by AFP from the social media company’s CEO Shou Chew.

“The US joint venture will be responsible for US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance,” Chew said in the memo. The deal would allow TikTok to maintain US operations and avoid a ban threat over its Chinese ownership.


Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has positioned the firm as a major player in artificial intelligence data center ventures – Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File Anna Moneymaker

Oracle stock rose more than five percent to $190.81 in after-hours trading on Thursday.

The firm’s stock peaked at $345.72 in September after it unveiled a massive inventory of AI work, a surge that briefly vaulted co-founder Larry Ellison above Tesla CEO Elon Musk as the world’s wealthiest person.

But its shares have since fallen more than 45 percent as investors have begun to question the risk of AI infrastructure overbuilding and scrutinized the financing of individual projects.

Ellison, a close ally of President Donald Trump, is currently fifth on the Forbes real-time billionaire list with $230 billion.

– Michigan project ‘limbo’ –

This week’s gyrations in Oracle shares followed a Financial Times story Wednesday that described a $10 billion AI data center project in Michigan as “in limbo” after a key partner declined to join the project.

The company, Blue Owl Capital, a backer of other major Oracle projects, pulled back after other lenders pushed for stricter terms “amid shifting market sentiment around enormous AI spending,” said the FT, which cited people familiar with the matter.

Oracle, which is taking on billions of dollars of debt in the building spree, described the FT story as “incorrect.”

“Our development partner, Related Digital, selected the best equity partner from a competitive group of options, which in this instance was not Blue Owl,” said Oracle spokesperson Michael Egbert.

“Final negotiations for their equity deal are moving forward on schedule and according to plan.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the Chat GPT-maker has committed to some $1.4 trillion in investments in AI computing, with some $300 billion reportedly going to Oracle.

But AI stocks have been volatile in recent weeks as the market scrutinizes the profit outlook for the data centers.

“Investors are starting to ask questions about the sustainability of the AI trade and the profitability,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.

The enthusiasm for AI “makes sense” when considering that manufacturing and services companies could see profits enhanced by the technology, Sosnick said, before pointing to doubts over lofty AI equity valuations.

Oracle’s price drop on Wednesday followed a selloff last week after the firm’s quarterly results sparked worry over its massive capital spending.

Analysts bullish on the stock have emphasized its huge growth potential with the AI boom.

On Thursday, Morningstar trimmed its price target on Oracle to $277 from $286, pointing to greater uncertainty around the projects.

Oracle’s elevated debt “leaves little room for error, meaning the new data centers have to generate cash flow as soon as possible to service debt and lease obligations,” Morningstar said in a note.

“However, we view recent events, including delays in some data centers’ completion dates, as minor setbacks that should not alter Oracle’s overall capacity ramp-up.”