Math doesn’t add up: Differing views create confusion in TikTok-Oracle deal

The TikTok sale saga reached an apparent conclusion over the weekend when President Donald Trump approved a deal. The agreement would allow Oracle Corp. and Walmart Inc. to buy a minority stake in a new joint entity, called TikTok Global. “I have given the deal my blessing,” Trump said.

But the harmony was short-lived. Just one day after Trump promised “no Chinese involvement,” TikTok owner Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. said it would retain 80% control over the new company.

By contrast, Oracle said that ByteDance would eventually relinquish its shares. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, Oracle Executive Vice President Ken Glueck said that once TikTok Global is created, “Americans will be the majority [shareholders] and ByteDance will have no ownership.” It’s rare for the parties involved in a major deal to disagree so radically on its contours, analysts say.