TikTok Saga reminiscent of robbery of New World from Red Indians

1. Let us look at the sketchy "tentative approval" by ByteDance, TikTok app’s parent company for a deal, or rather a "forced marriage, with Oracle/Walmart:

(a) Oracle plans to take a 12.5% stake and Walmart will get 7.5% in pre-IPO equity in TikTok Global. In other words, Oracle and Walmart collectively take a 20% stake. ByteDance says that it will have an 80% stake in TikTok Global.

(b) Walmart's CEO will have a board seat in TikTok Global, along with ByteDance's founder and its current board members.

Four of the five members on TikTok Global's board of directors will be American.

(c) The current plan does not involve the transfer of any algorithms or technology.

However, Oracle will host all US user data on its cloud platform and be tasked with "securing associated computer systems," TikTok said in a statement.

(d) In its comment on Trump's claim that TikTok will donate $5 billion for US education, ByteDance said Sunday (20 September) that it was unaware that an education fund would be tied to the TikTok deal.

"Some news media reported that TikTok will set up a $5 billion education fund in the United States," ByteDance said in a statement. "We would like to clarify that it was also our first time hearing about the news."

(e) In its clarification on Monday (21 September 2020), ByteDance said the "so-called tax payment" of $5 billion to the US Treasury Department is a forecast or estimation of the corporate income tax and other operating taxes that TikTok will need to pay for its business development in the next few years. The actual tax amount still needs to be determined according to the actual development of the business and the US tax structure.

2. However, after Trump gave approval "in concept" for the Oracle-TikTok deal on Sunday (20 September 2020), it is clear that the "forced marriage" has turned into a "forced sale" reminiscent of the forced sale of the Red Indians' New World and Russia's Alaska to the US Imperialists.

The deal, however, isn't the final chapter in the seemingly never-ending saga. There are still lots of unanswered questions about the relationships that TikTok, Oracle and Walmart will have and confusion about what role ByteDance plays in the arrangement.

Oracle and ByteDance released contradictory statements on Monday (21 September 2020).

(a) Walmart added more confusion on Saturday (19 September) by announcing it would be taking a 20% share of TikTok under the proposed deal.

According to Oracle, TikTok Global will be majority-owned by American investors — including four venture-capital firms, which are each existing ByteDance investors: Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital and Coatue Management. With the holdings of those U.S. VCs, TikTok Global would be 53%-owned by Oracle and Walmart. ByteDance's Chinese and international investors will hold 36% and 11%, respectively.

On Monday (21 September 2o020), Oracle executive vice president Ken Glueck said in a statement that "upon creation of TikTok Global, Oracle/Walmart will make their investment and the TikTok Global shares will be distributed to their owners, Americans will be the majority and ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global."

(Alarm One! Danger! China beware! ByteDance will have no ownership in TikTok Global???!!! TikTok Global will control the business of TikTok around the world except China. It will block IP from the Chinese mainland to access it. This means the Americans can take control of the global business of TikTok and reject Chinese to access it.)

(b) TikTok Global will have four American citizens out of the five member board of directors, according to a joint statement from Oracle and Walmart. ByteDance’s Zhang will be the only non-U.S. board member, alongside Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon, General Atlantic’s William Ford, Susquehanna’s Arthur Dantchik and Sequoia’s Douglas Leone.

The board of TikTok Global would include a national security director, who will have to be approved by the US.

(c) Oracle executive vice president Ken Glueck said ByteDance will not own any part of the viral video app.

Oracle will have the authority to check the source code, algorithm and updates of TikTok USA before passing it on to users. TikTok's data, including usernames and passwords, will be stored by Oracle within the United States.

(Alarm Two! Danger! China beware! As the TikTok and Douyin should have the same source code, this means the US can get to know the operations of Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.)

(d) Trump claimed that the deal would also include a $5 billion fund for US education, though he did not say which companies would be making the payment.

Walmart and Oracle did not mention anything about an education fund in a statement released over the weekend.

TikTok Global also plans to create 25,000 US jobs as part of an expansion of its global headquarters, which will remain in the US. It will also create an educational program to "develop and deliver an AI-driven online video curriculum" that includes courses in math, reading, science, history and computer engineering for children.

(e) Walmart and Oracle said that TikTok Global "will pay more than 5 billion in new tax dollars to the US Treasury."

P.S. Oracle chairman Larry Ellison is a Trump supporter (he held a fundraiser this year for the president) and Oracle CEO Safra Catz was on Trump’s presidential transition team.

3. The rush to acquire TikTok by several big corporations marks a big milestone for the "Made in China" brand. Chinese goods are no longer of shoddy quality as portrayed and propagated by Peter Navarro in his infamous books.

However, like a vain woman who has dressed herself like a Christmas tree of gold ornaments and diamonds, TikTok is now "mugged" in broad daylight and is in danger of being robbed of all her possessions.

If all other governments follow the Trump regime's playbook in banning or forcing the sale of foreign companies that have invested in their lands, it is just a matter of time before the global economy breaks up totally.

Even if the self-declared Messiah does not care a damn about the fates of US companies in other countries, he should ponder the future of his personal business interests in other lands once he is no longer in power. Good luck to him!

https://www.cnet.com/news/tiktok-oracle-deal-and-a-potential-us-ban-everything-you-need-to-know/

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