By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday asked the White House if investors are paying $10 billion to the Treasury as part of the Trump administration-brokered sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Senator Mark Warner cited a Wall Street Journal report that investors in the new TikTok joint venture – including Oracle, Silver Lake, Abu Dhabi’s MGX, and other investors – have already paid $2.5 billion to the Treasury and will pay the remaining $7.5 billion in installments. China’s ByteDance said in January TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will secure U.S. user data, apps and algorithms through data privacy and cybersecurity measures.Warner said $10 billion represents roughly 71% of the joint venture’s publicly announced $14 billion valuation.
The White House and TikTok did not immediately comment. TikTok has refused to answer many questions about the deal.
“This arrangement, if true, would continue a pattern set by the Trump administration of exercising the power and authority of the government to benefit certain companies and individuals close to the President, and to extract financial concessions as a condition of doing so,” Warner wrote. “The opaque, uncompetitive, and ad hoc process surrounding this government-brokered sale, with numerous clear conflicts of interest, has no analogue in modern American history.”
A law passed by Congress in 2024 required ByteDance to sell its U.S. assets by January 2025 or face a ban or potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in fines.
The Trump administration has sought to receive cash or stock as part of major transactions, including a 9.9% stake in Intel in exchange for government grants. The government has also taken stakes in metals and mining firms.
Warner said he wants the administration to disclose the legal authority for approving the sale, the basis for seeking $10 billion, how the figure was determined, any direct involvement by Trump and the intended use of the funds.
Earlier this month, Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi were sued by retail investors in two social media rivals of TikTok seeking to reverse the U.S. president’s approval of the joint venture.
(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Rod Nickel)
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