President Donald Trump has revealed a group of prominent tech and media billionaires he’s assembling to lead a U.S.-based acquisition of TikTok, part of his broader goal to take the popular app out of Chinese ownership.
Speaking as the first-ever guest on The Sunday Briefing, a new Fox News program hosted by Peter Doocy, Trump confirmed that several well-known American magnates are in talks to buy TikTok. Among the names he cited were:
- Rupert Murdoch (Executive Chairman of News Corp)
- Lachlan Murdoch (Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation)
- Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle and the world’s second-richest person)
- Michael Dell (CEO of Dell Technologies)
President Trump expressed admiration for the group, describing them as “really great people, very prominent people, and they’re also American patriots… I think they’re going to do a really good job.”
Trump specifically called attention to the Murdoch family, saying, “A man named Lachlan is involved. You know who Lachlan is? That’s a very unusual name, Lachlan Murdoch.” He then added, “Rupert is probably in the group. I think they’re going to be in the group.”
Tangled Legal Ties with Murdoch
Despite expressing confidence in the Murdochs as potential buyers, Trump is currently embroiled in a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Murdoch’s News Corp. The suit stems from the Journal’s publication of a crude birthday message allegedly sent by Trump to Jeffrey Epstein — a note the former president has denied authoring. The case remains ongoing.Nevertheless, Trump appears willing to set that dispute aside when it comes to assembling what he describes as a patriotic team to take control of TikTok in the U.S.
Deal Structure and Data Security
According to Trump, the TikTok buyers’ board will consist of seven members, although he did not specify how it would be structured among the involved parties. He emphasized that Oracle, led by Larry Ellison, would play a central role in safeguarding the platform’s user data and privacy.
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When asked how much money would be involved in the acquisition, Trump said he expected the group would pay a “tremendous amount.”
