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Who Owns TikTok?
Who owns TikTok? It’s not quite a secret – the app’s most successful investors are an American company called Oracle. In fact, TikTok is not owned by a Chinese firm at all, but by a highly successful American firm. Read on to learn who they are and what they’re doing. After all, who wouldn’t want to work with the people who made Facebook and Twitter so successful?
ByteDance
In a recent congressional hearing, ByteDance was questioned about its relationship with TikTok. The company’s representatives argued that TikTok has no ties with ByteDance’s Chinese entity, Beijing ByteDance Technology. To see also : YouTubers Vs TikTokers – Who Won the Battle of the Platforms?. In fact, ByteDance has a stake in the Chinese entity and sits on the board. In addition, TikTok has not been a public company since the ban was issued.
ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, has pursued a sale of its U.S. operations. Walmart and Oracle agreed to purchase a combined 20% stake in TikTok last September. However, the deal was never finalized and ByteDance had no intention of listing until the company had resolved its security concerns. Additionally, the proposed sale was delayed indefinitely, according to the Wall Street Journal. In August, the former US president made demands on ByteDance to sell off its TikTok operations to a U.S. company.
Oracle
It was a surprise when news broke that Amazon and Oracle are planning to merge to create a new social media giant, TikTok. Both companies were previously at odds over a potential partnership, but the TikTok deal is now on the table. To see also : How to Unblock People on TikTok. Oracle owns a majority stake in the Chinese social media app, while Walmart will buy the rest. Both companies have been at odds over whether the deal would benefit the company or hurt its competitors.
Some employees have been skeptical of the deal, because it would put the company in the government’s crosshairs. Oracle executives have a close relationship with the Trump administration, and they may have influenced the outcome of the TikTok US deal. The deal would have also freed Oracle to focus on enhancing the product rather than worrying about the government’s stance. Meanwhile, ByteDance executives may have seen the deal as the best way to satisfy US and Chinese government officials.
Walmart
A deal was struck between TikTok, a Chinese-owned social cloud service that uses artificial intelligence to pair consumers with content, and Walmart last October. Walmart was interested in buying a portion of TikTok’s U.S. operations, and the companies were expected to acquire a 7. Read also : How to Gain More Followers on TikTok.5% stake in the service. The deal, however, has been delayed due to legal challenges. In October, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said that he had “great expectations” for the company, and it hoped to resolve its differences with TikTok as soon as possible.
The deal could help Walmart grow in China, where TikTok has a massive user base. The company may also be interested in expanding its own digital business. It’s unclear whether Walmart’s plans to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations are still in the works, or if Walmart and Microsoft will work together to run the service in the U.S.. TikTok’s Chinese owners have already taken a sibling app, Douyin, and are now trying to expand its online presence.
Zhang’s TikTok
While Chinese entrepreneurs can look to US tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs as models, the reality is much different. The Chinese need to navigate domestic regulation changes while simultaneously navigating the geopolitical tensions between China and the West. President Donald Trump has even demanded that TikTok sell its U.S. operations to an American company. But the company has insisted that it will never give user data to the Chinese government.
The success of TikTok has fueled Zhang’s personal fortune. In late 2017, the app was launched internationally and passed the 500 million mark in July. In July 2018, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, raised a $75 billion fund. That funding quadrupled Zhang’s net worth and landed him in the top 1% of wealthiest people in China. But not everyone is happy with Zhang’s TikTok presence.
ByteDance retains control over recommendation algorithm
In a recent article published on Toutiao, the company revealed that the deal with Oracle will allow it to keep 80% of the TikTok recommendation algorithm, while a majority of its shares will be owned by U.S. firms. But this move also raises questions about the future of TikTok and the role of a Chinese company in the U.S. tech sector. Trump has already expressed concerns about the proposed deal, claiming that it might not be approved by regulators if U.S. investors own 53% of the company.
But the company’s shareholders are likely to feel differently. Microsoft executives were frustrated by ByteDance’s response to its original bid, which included future payments based on the performance of TikTok. The deal fell short of the expectations of ByteDance investors. Microsoft defended its bid by saying that the TikTok recommendation algorithm posed a security risk. However, ByteDance’s decision to retain control of its algorithm is a key factor in the company’s success.
ByteDance hasn’t been banned
The controversy over whether ByteDance has been banned from tiktok is nothing new. In fact, the company is the subject of a separate government investigation, a petition filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reveals that the Chinese government is a partner in the app, but that ByteDance has not been banned from tiktok. The government may not want to take ByteDance off the platform, because it fears that US ownership would pose security risks.
It is unclear why the US and Indian governments have stepped in to prevent the app from spreading its inflammatory content. Earlier this year, the company allegedly agreed to sell part of TikTok Global to Oracle, a company founded by Donald Trump’s supporter Larry Ellison. ByteDance claimed it would own 80 percent of TikTok, but the Chinese government had not approved the deal.
