TikTok US Deal: ByteDance Sells U.S. Operations to American Investors

January 31, 2026 Rachel Kim – Technology Editor Technology

Here’s a breakdown of the key information from the provided text:

* Trump’s Shift in Approach to TikTok: During his second term, Donald Trump reportedly changed his stance on TikTok, seeking a 50-50 ownership split between ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) adn a U.S. company.This is a shift from earlier attempts to ban or force a complete sale of the app.
* The People’s Bid for TikTok: A consortium led by Frank McCourt’s Project Liberty attempted to acquire TikTok.
* Key Backers of The People’s Bid: The group had meaningful support, including:
* Investment: Guggenheim Securities
* Legal: Kirkland & Ellis
* Individuals:
* Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
* Kevin O’Leary (TV personality and investor)
* Tim Berners-lee (Inventor of the World Wide Web)
* David Clark (Senior research scientist)
* Image: The text includes an image of Donald trump.

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