Trump Says Murdochs, Dell Likely Part of Group Buying TikTok in the US

President Donald Trump said that Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch, as well as Dell Technologies (DELL) CEO Michael Dell, may be involved in the group buying Chinese-owned TikTok’s U.S operations.

Speaking on Fox News on Sunday, Trump also said Oracle (ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison was part of the same group, as widely reported previously.

“You know, they’re very well-known people. And Larry Ellison is one of them. He’s involved. He’s a great guy. Michael Dell is involved. I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved,” Trump said, referring to Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corp, parent company of Fox News.  Trump also said that Rupert Murdoch “is probably going to be in the group” and added the buyers were all “American patriots.”

President Donald Trump in an order last week extended to mid-December the deadline under which TikTok parent ByteDance would have to sell the social media platform to a U.S.-based owner or be banned in the country over national security concerns. TikTok has around 170 million users in the U.S.

Bloomberg reported Monday that the U.S. owners of the new TikTok would lease a copy of TikTok’s algorithm, then Oracle would recreate and provide security for the recommendation software. That would keep the algorithm under U.S. control, the report said, citing a White House official.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the elder Murdoch had also privately told executives working on the deal that he wanted to own a small stake in TikTok U.S. if an agreement could be reached. It also reported, citing another person familiar with the matter, that Fox Corp would hold the investment in TikTok. The Journal had previously reported that a group of new TikTok investors and existing backers would own roughly 80% of a company that would control the app’s U.S. operations.

News Corp., Dell, Oracle, and the White House didn’t immediately return requests for comment.