The news: President Trump signed an executive order Thursday approving a proposal to keep TikTok operational in the US under new leadership.

• TikTok’s US assets will grant the consortium of investors, including Oracle’s Larry Ellison and former chairman of News Corp. and Fox Corporation Rupert Murdoch, control over TikTok’s US operations and include a copy of TikTok’s algorithm. ByteDance will retain less than a 20% stake in TikTok.
• Reports state that Emirati-owned firm MGX will join the group, despite Trump stating the app will be “American-operated all the way.” The report follows MGX’s announcement that it had invested $2 billion in a cryptocurrency startup linked to the Trump family.
• The US app is valued around $14 billion, per Vice President JD Vance—significantly below initial analyst estimates, which valued the app around $35 to $40 billion.

Trump extended the enforcement pause by 120 days last week to allow time for a sale to complete.

Some uncertainty remains. Though Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping “gave us the go-ahead” on a deal, Jinping has not publicly acknowledged the deal.

Why it matters: The executive order caps off months of speculation and uncertainty and will allow TikTok, a critical touchpoint for brands looking to reach key audiences, to restore advertiser confidence. For advertisers and the millions of US companies that rely on TikTok, a deal would create stability that ensures campaigns can continue running.

Yes, but: What a US-specific version of TikTok and its critical algorithm will look like will greatly influence continued adoption of the app.

The powerful group of conservative investors, who maintain close ties to the Trump administration, could fracture TikTok’s reputation as the only major app where left-leaning influencers outnumber right-leaning influencers. Ownership could fundamentally reshape how consumers interact with TikTok or create an environment similar to how X transformed when Elon Musk took ownership.

Our take: TikTok’s restructuring may accelerate competition across the short-form ecosystem. As the app redefines itself under new leadership, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and emerging platforms could innovate, creating a richer, more fragmented environment for advertisers to navigate as audiences shift. Advertisers could begin rewriting their short-form strategies to focus on platforms with less perceived controversy and where content can quickly be repurposed.