Abu Dhabi royal family to take stake in TikTok US

Deal Structure, Valuation, and Cronyism

• Many see the forced sale as a political “giveaway to friends,” not a market transaction, comparing the $14B TikTok US valuation unfavorably to past TikTok numbers, SNAP, and Meta.
• Commenters argue that, under an open auction, major tech firms would gladly pay far more; the low price is framed as “sell to our people for pennies or be banned.”
• Some note reports of a large profit‑sharing/licensing deal where ByteDance still gets ~50% of profits, reinforcing that control of the feed, not pure profit, is the primary objective.
• There is criticism that existing law and Supreme Court precedent could have enabled a straightforward ban or market-led outcome, but the administration instead “punted,” letting political actors choose the buyers.

China, Data Security, and New Power Centers

• Several users mock the idea that this “removes the China threat,” pointing out ByteDance remains Chinese and will still profit.
• Others highlight that US data will be on US cloud infrastructure and that Gulf investors are effectively paying for access and influence, not owning the raw data outright.
• The shift from Chinese to US/Gulf/VC influence is viewed as swapping one set of powerful manipulators for another, with concerns about surveillance, propaganda, and algorithmic control of youth.

Gulf States, Trump, and Constitutional Concerns

• The Abu Dhabi stake is discussed alongside other Gulf largesse (planes, crypto deals), portrayed as buying favor with a highly “transactional” US leader.
• Commenters bring up the US Constitution’s emoluments clause and argue that previous high-value gifts from foreign rulers were likely unconstitutional, with enforcement seen as nonexistent.
• Some debate the specific roles of different Gulf states and chip access as concrete returns on these investments.

TikTok’s Social Impact and Competition

• A number of people think the “ideal” would be users abandoning TikTok themselves or strong privacy laws making ownership less critical; others say people would just move to Reels/shorts, so nothing truly improves.
• There’s disagreement on whether overt censorship by new owners would drive teens away; some predict a slow bleed to Instagram/Meta, others think TikTok will remain dominant in short video.
• Several comments view the entire episode as a case study in state-picked winners, media consolidation, and multipolar geopolitics rather than real data protection.