Exclusive | Trump-backed deal to save TikTok moves closer to finish line ahead of ban on April 5: sources

The long-awaited deal to save TikTok from being banned from US app stores is ticking down to completion, On The Money has learned.An investor group working with Vice President JD Vance has the contours of a deal in place to rescue the popular short-video app from extinction, sources close to the situation said. Vance is Trump’s White House point-man in saving TikTok from a ban that under law is set to go into effect April 5 if the app doesn’t divest from its Chinese ownership over concerns that the ruling communist party uses the platform to spy on US citizens.The deal announcement will also likely include a grace period of some type – 30 days or possibly longer – for the team to iron out details, the source said.Under the scenario now being discussed, tech giant Oracle would safeguard the app in its cloud, while TikTok’s Chinese-parent ByteDance would take a minority position in a new US majority-owned company, people with direct knowledge of the dealmaking said. Large US-based institutions that already have an ownership stake in Bytedance, outfits like General Atlantic and Susquehanna, will form the majority of the ownership team, a move designed to address the US-control stipulations in the law, the sources added.“We feel good we can get this thing done next week,” said a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations.A press rep for Vance had no comment.A TikTok spokesman had no comment.People close to the deal talks caution that the transaction isn’t finalized and could be scuttled or significantly altered.

That said, one big hurdle has already been overcome: Tom Cotton, the powerful GOP Senator from Arkansas and a proponent of a TikTok ban, is telling people he will stand down at least for the immediate future and allow the White House to develop a deal structure that complies with ban legislation that he has long favored, people with knowledge of the matter tell On The Money.The way the TikTok ban law – signed by former President Biden ...