Mnuchin, "Received Oracle's TikTok Acquisition Notice... Security Review to be Conducted This Week"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, announced on the 14th (local time) that the U.S. government has received a proposal from Oracle to acquire TikTok's U.S. operations and will review the related details within this week.

Secretary Mnuchin made these remarks during an appearance on CNBC. He added, "The U.S. government has a significant level of trust not only with Microsoft but also with Oracle. They chose Oracle. Our team and their technical team will verify whether the personal information on Americans' smartphones can be securely stored."

It is known that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) will be responsible for reviewing this transaction. Secretary Mnuchin also confirmed that the deal must be finalized by the 20th.

Secretary Mnuchin expressed hope that if the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations is finalized, it could create 20,000 jobs within the United States. He referred to the new TikTok as "TikTok Global."

Meanwhile, China's state-run CGTN reported that ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, does not plan to sell TikTok's U.S. business segment to Microsoft or Oracle. According to the broadcast, ByteDance also stated it will not transfer TikTok's source code to the U.S. American media have also reported that this deal is not a complete sale.

On the New York Stock Exchange, which opened that day, Oracle's stock price rose 5.3%, and Microsoft, which was eliminated from the acquisition race, also started trading up 0.8%.