Lachlan Murdoch, Michael Dell, and Larry Ellison emerge as key players in TikTok deal
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that media mogul Lachlan Murdoch and business leaders Larry Ellison and Michael Dell would be involved as U.S. investors in a proposed deal to keep TikTok operating in the United States.
The proposed investors would give Trump allies in corporate America influence over a widely popular social media app, which counts 170 million U.S. users and helps shape public discourse on politics and culture.
Under the expected deal, TikTok’s U.S. assets would be majority-owned by American investors and operated in the United States by a board of directors with national security and cybersecurity credentials, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing a White House official.
Trump praised the group in an interview with Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing” program, calling them prominent people and “American patriots.”
“I think they’re going to do a really good job,” Trump said, crediting TikTok with helping build his support among young voters in the 2024 presidential election.
Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corp, recently cemented long-term control of his family’s media empire that includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal after settling a years-long legal battle with his siblings. The family patriarch, 94-year-old Rupert Murdoch, may also be involved in the deal, Trump said.
Any investment in TikTok U.S. would come through Fox Corp, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Murdochs would not invest as individuals, nor would News Corp, parent company of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, these sources said.
Meanwhile, Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle and a major Republican donor, has long been linked to a potential TikTok deal. Dell is the CEO of Dell Technologies DELL.N. Dell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
