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TikTok staff ‘scared for their jobs’ as Donald Trump signs executive order, $14B deal in motion
“If it works out, great. If it doesn't, we'll have to look for another job,” a TikTok staffer in the e-commerce division said.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday local time advanced plans for American investors to acquire TikTok’s US operations from Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd.
With an executive order, Trump said the deal would protect data of US users, with Oracle Corp. assisting in securing the algorithm on the American version of the platform.
The announcement brings some relief to TikTok staff in the US, who have long faced uncertainty due to potential divestment and political pressure. Yet, many employees are scared for their jobs and roles in the company as new owners are set to takeover.
“If it works out, great. If it doesn't, we'll have to look for another job,” a TikTok staffer in the e-commerce division told Business Insider.
Another employee questioned how the sale would affect their ByteDance stock and whether a “retrained” US algorithm would perform as effectively as the one overseen by ByteDance.
According to the news outlet, for some staff, the new TikTok deal offers a degree of “clarity and hopefully stability,” the first employee said.
Another employee said that they are confused and have many questions, but it's “better than the endless uncertainty.”
Trump says President Xi gave a ‘go-ahead’
Trump, meanwhile, claimed approval from Chinese President Xi Jinping for the transaction. “I had a very good talk with President Xi,” Bloomberg quoted Trump as saying in the Oval Office.
“We talked about TikTok and other things, but we talked about TikTok and he gave us the go-ahead,” he added.
Despite Trump’s statement, the deal’s future remains uncertain as China has not publicly confirmed approval. A recent foreign ministry statement said that any TikTok transaction must comply with Chinese law, without explicitly endorsing the sale.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance, who helped negotiate the deal said that the new US company could be worth roughly $14 billion. “Ultimately, the investors are going to make the determination about what they want to invest in and what they think is the proper value.” Vance said.
