Daijiworld Media Network – Washington

Washington, Sep 27: TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance is poised to receive about half of the profit from the platform’s US operations even after selling a majority stake to American investors under a deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Sources said ByteDance would collect a licensing fee for the use of its powerful recommendation algorithm and also retain a profit share proportional to its remaining equity. Together, those payments could give ByteDance 50 percent or more of TikTok US profits after the new owners—likely including Oracle Corp., Silver Lake Management and Abu Dhabi-based MGX—take control of roughly 80 percent of the business.

President Joe Biden earlier signed a law requiring ByteDance to cede control or face a shutdown, but Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline while striking a compromise to keep the service running, crediting TikTok support with helping his 2024 election victory.

Vice President JD Vance recently floated a $14 billion price tag—far below analysts’ $35–40 billion estimates—fueling speculation that the lucrative profit-sharing terms explain the lower valuation. Analysts like Alpha Binwani Capital founder Ashwin Binwani called the figure “dramatically misaligned with reality.”

The Chinese embassy urged Washington to ensure a “fair and non-discriminatory environment” for Chinese investors as the US-backed consortium and ByteDance work to finalize the sale’s terms.