TikTok and the billionaire squad: Who is taking over the gold mine of 100 million users?

(Dan Tri) - The $14 billion deal brings together big names from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, revealing that behind the TikTok rescue in the US is a powerful strategic alliance.

Finally, the mystery of TikTok's future in the US was revealed, not by a neat acquisition but by the appearance of a powerful "team".

When President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 25, he not only sealed the fate of an app, but also painted a portrait of its new owners: a coalition of tech giants, big investors, and media moguls.

This $14 billion deal is more than just a transfer of wealth. It’s a complex game of chess, with each player bringing a strategic piece to the table. To understand who’s really winning this race, we need to look at the people behind it and their roles in this extraordinary “alliance.”

The 3 pillars: Technology, capital and influence

Instead of a single company, “TikTok USA” is being restructured under the control of an investment group. CNBC sources said that the three names that play a core role, controlling about 45% of the shares, are Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. This is not a random combination, but a carefully calculated structure, based on three main pillars.

Oracle - The Guarantor of Technology and Security

At the top is Oracle, and the man behind it, billionaire Larry Ellison. Oracle's role is more than just being an investor in the capital. They are the technical and security "guarantor" of the entire deal.

Before the deal, Oracle was TikTok’s US user data storage partner, a position that gave it deep insight into the app’s infrastructure. Under the new structure, that role is being taken to the next level: Oracle will be responsible for auditing TikTok’s entire algorithm, which, according to the White House, will be “retrained and operated in the US, outside of ByteDance’s control.”

Put simply, Oracle holds the “technical keys” to ensure that TikTok’s heart—its addictive content recommendation algorithm—works to American standards. The involvement of Larry Ellison, a longtime ally of President Trump and the world’s second-richest person, provides a layer of both technological and political protection.

Silver Lake & MGX - Financial Machine

If Oracle is the technical brains, then Silver Lake and MGX are the pockets and financial acumen.

Silver Lake is one of the world’s leading private equity funds focused on technology. With a portfolio spanning Airbnb, Tesla, and Waymo, Silver Lake brings extensive experience in restructuring and maximizing value for technology companies. They know how to turn a digital asset into a profitable money-making machine.

Meanwhile, MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based venture capital fund, represents a powerful and visionary international capital. With a focus on AI and future technologies (it participated in OpenAI’s funding round), MGX brings not only money, but also a network of relationships and a long-term development direction for TikTok in the AI ​​race.

This combination ensures TikTok USA has ample financial resources and strategic leadership from top minds on Wall Street.

On September 25 (US time), President Donald Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office, officially paving the way for the restructuring of TikTok's ownership in the US (Photo: AP).

Powerful "satellites": More than a business deal

In addition to the three pillars, President Trump also revealed the participation of other famous names, making this deal go beyond the framework of a normal purchase.

Rupert Murdoch: Media mogul, owner of the Fox News and Wall Street Journal empires. The Murdoch family’s involvement, no matter how large, signals the potential convergence between social media and mainstream media. Could TikTok become a new distribution channel for Murdoch content, and vice versa?

Michael Dell: Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies. Like Ellison, Dell is an icon of the American technology industry. His involvement adds to the "Americanness" and technological prestige of the new venture.

The presence of these figures is not just financial. They form a fortress of big names in American business and media, creating a solid layer of protection and increasing influence for TikTok USA.

The Conundrum: Algorithms and the Future of Users

The heart of the deal, and the biggest challenge, is the algorithm. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, will still hold a minority stake (less than 20%). The question is how to separate the brain of TikTok USA from the parent company?

The solution is a licensed copy of the original algorithm that would be retrained entirely with US user data and run on Oracle's cloud platform. In theory, this creates a standalone version of TikTok.

However, this is also the biggest business risk.

First is the user experience. Will the “made in the USA” algorithm retain the magic that has attracted hundreds of millions of users? Any change, no matter how small, can turn users away, as Twitter (now X) after Elon Musk took over showed. “Social media is not just technology, it’s culture,” warns analyst Jasmine Enberg.

Then there’s the matter of the owners’ consensus. How will a board with so many strong personalities like Ellison, representatives from Silver Lake, and possibly Murdoch, steer TikTok? Will they find common ground to manage a youth culture platform that’s constantly changing?

TikTok’s US takeover is more than just a sale. It’s the creation of a hybrid entity where technology, finance, and media power intersect, backed by some of the biggest names in the game. The immediate goal is to allay security concerns and keep the app alive.

But the long run is the interesting part. Will TikTok USA become a strategic piece in the ecosystem of giant corporations or be fragmented by too many intertwined interests? Either outcome will leave a lasting mark on the global technology and media map.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/tiktok-va-biet-doi-ty-phu-ai-dang-thau-tom-mo-vang-100-trieu-nguoi-dung-20250928101637857.htm