> No representatives from ByteDance were present at the signing, and the company hasn’t acknowledged that a transaction is taking place. No purchase price was mentioned, and there’s no indication that the Chinese government has made changes to laws that would be necessary for a deal to take place.
> President Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping gave the deal the go ahead. Vance said the Chinese government put up some resistance before the agreement
I find these two paragraphs particularly interesting
The title here "TikTok Sold for $14B" is completely incorrect
TikTok was not sold. This is an announcement of an executive order endorsing a proposal to sell TikTok.
> No representatives from ByteDance were present at the signing, and the company hasn’t acknowledged that a transaction is taking place. No purchase price was mentioned, and there’s no indication that the Chinese government has made changes to laws that would be necessary for a deal to take place.
Incredible that this happened. AIPAC and the ADL targeted Tiktok because it didn't restrict Palestine content while the other social media did. And so the US Congress killed it. Absolutely incredible first amendment work from the Land of the Free.
TrumpTok is gonna be grooooooooooooosssssssssssssssssss. I don't for a second think that they're going to take what is, by their admission, the most sophisticated and far-reaching propaganda engine in human history and carefully balance the conflicting duty of delivering maximum value while not taking advantage of people.
I don't think it's a good idea for the US government to dictate (or attempt to dictate) specific deals and specific terms for those deals.
I think, in the context of something like a financial crisis, there could be a "this is the least bad thing at this point" argument to be made. But for tiktok today, this has to be among the worst things.
It looks like this massively undervalues TikTok's US operations, meaning the current administration is essentially gifting tens of billions to a friendly oligarch.
More accurately: Trump signs executive order forcing ByteDance to sell controlling interest in US TikTok for less than 10% of its actual value to right-wing billionaires
> No representatives from ByteDance were present at the signing, and the company hasn’t acknowledged that a transaction is taking place. No purchase price was mentioned, and there’s no indication that the Chinese government has made changes to laws that would be necessary for a deal to take place.
This headline is completely misleading and incorrect. I don't think it necessarily needs flagging, but could be fine corrected to reflect the actual event.
Nice social media app you've got there. It would be a shame if something happened to it. This can be avoided if you sell us a piece of the action cheap.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 30.1 ms ] thread> President Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping gave the deal the go ahead. Vance said the Chinese government put up some resistance before the agreement
I find these two paragraphs particularly interesting
TikTok was not sold. This is an announcement of an executive order endorsing a proposal to sell TikTok.
> No representatives from ByteDance were present at the signing, and the company hasn’t acknowledged that a transaction is taking place. No purchase price was mentioned, and there’s no indication that the Chinese government has made changes to laws that would be necessary for a deal to take place.
As far as I know TikTok in Africa and Eurasia will still be owned, and operated, by ByteDance from China.
How all of this is going to work out content wise is going to be... interesting, indeed.
When Tiktok was banned in India, everyone tried to recreate it, include Instagram. Everyone failed to get anywhere close to TikTok for you page.
Once the new algorithm is live, expect massive backlash.
It reminds me of the oligarchs in Russia, license raj in India, privatization in Mexico etc…
being close to political power lets folks buy up crown-jewel assets at a fraction of their true value.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-26/bytedance... (archive: https://archive.ph/4m7Ms)
I think, in the context of something like a financial crisis, there could be a "this is the least bad thing at this point" argument to be made. But for tiktok today, this has to be among the worst things.
It looks like this massively undervalues TikTok's US operations, meaning the current administration is essentially gifting tens of billions to a friendly oligarch.
What a time of corruption we live in.
Abu Dhabi royal family to take stake in TikTok US
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45385926
This headline is completely misleading and incorrect. I don't think it necessarily needs flagging, but could be fine corrected to reflect the actual event.