TikTok sale hands power to pro-'Israel' billionaires: Analysis
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A $14 billion TikTok acquisition by a US-led consortium including Oracle and other pro-"Israel" figures is raising concerns over geopolitical motives and control of digital narratives.
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US President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order regarding TikTok in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, September 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
A new analysis by Responsible Statecraft shed light on how the United States' acquisition of Tiktok has benefited "Israel" the most, after calls first focused on shutting the app down for being "too pro-Palestine".
The debate has shifted from eliminating TikTok to controlling it with the "right people", as its true power lies in its unparalleled ability to disseminate messages to a massive audience. Among these are Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, one of the largest donors to the IOF, Kelley Beaucar Vlahos wrote.
The "right people" include powerful allies like media titan Rupert Murdoch and Oracle's CEO Safra Catz, both of whom have used their platforms to vigorously support "Israel", with Catz explicitly pledging Oracle's side with the nation and predicting its success, the Responsible Statecraft piece said.
This growing list of influential figures also includes billionaire Jeff Yass, a major GOP donor and current TikTok investor, whose philanthropic network is linked to a carousel of entities with funding ties to the IOF and AIPAC, and which support explicitly anti-Muslim campaigns.
A transaction rooted in geopolitics
This consortium of staunch pro-"Israel" US investors is finalizing a deal to acquire TikTok for $14 billion, with the full roster to be announced shortly. According to reports, Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and an Abu Dhabi-based AI investment firm will collectively hold a 40% stake, with Oracle specifically receiving 15% and being appointed the app's "security provider," while China's ByteDance would be reduced to a 20% stake.
The $14 billion deal is being called a "fire sale" by some observers, especially when considering that Elon Musk paid triple that amount for Twitter in 2022, a discrepancy that Responsible Statecraft said suggests that this transaction is more about geopolitics and ideology rather than being driven by the prospect of financial gain for investors.
According to Responsible Statecraft, Milton Mueller, a professor at Georgia Tech specializing in digital governance, told Newsweek that the deal is a "politically determined restructuring," not a fair-market transaction. With its roster of GOP and MAGA supporters, it creates a new Trump-friendly megaphone, but it is ultimately about more than that; in essence, as Safra Catz stated, the big "winners" of this arrangement will be in "Israel".
