TikTok Global gets Oracle and Walmart as minority investors; India future still uncertain
TikTok will resume operations in the US after selling 20 percent stake to Oracle and Walmart in a new agreement approved by President Donald Trump. However, the app continues to be banned in India.
TikTok has found a new home in enterprise software giant Oracle, which along with Walmart, will acquire a 20 percent stake in the newly-created TikTok Global.
Oracle and Walmart have the rights to buy 12.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively under an agreement that has won the "blessings" of US President Donald Trump.
The ByteDance-owned short video platform announced in a tweet that it was "not going anywhere" and TikTok users in the US could now access the app as usual.
TikTok's Interim Head Vanessa Pappas said in a video message,
"The outpouring of support for TikTok has been nothing short of humbling. We are here for you, and we are here for the long run. We're thrilled to share that we are working with a US tech partner to ensure that TikTok can provide a home to each and every one of you. We are incredibly inspired, grateful, and proud of our community, and our teams are committed to keep the app running."
As a part of the new agreement, TikTok Global will run on the Oracle Cloud.
Oracle, which will be a minority investor in the company, said that it will "quickly deploy, rapidly scale, and operate TikTok systems", ensuring data security and privacy.
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Oracle CEO Safra Catz said in a statement,
"We are a hundred percent confident in our ability to deliver a highly secure environment to TikTok and ensure data privacy to TikTok’s American users, and users throughout the world. This greatly improved security and guaranteed privacy will enable the continued rapid growth of the TikTok community to benefit all stakeholders.”
Walmart, on the other hand, has entered into a commercial agreement with TikTok Global to provide its "ecommerce, fulfilment, payments, and other omnichannel services" to the company, it announced in a statement.
TikTok is reportedly seeking a $60 billion valuation in the US, where it has over 100 million users. This means Oracle and Walmart will have to pay $12 billion for their cumulative stake in the company. "We will also maintain and expand TikTok Global's headquarters in the US, while bringing 25,000 jobs across the country," it added.
Even as TikTok's problems in the US seem to be nearing an end, its future in India remains uncertain. The app continues to be banned in its largest market in the world.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta
