The firms issued contradicting statements about TikTok’s ownership under the deal, which would see Oracle and Walmart share a 20 per cent stake in the video-sharing company. While ByteDance said it would retain ownership of the remaining 80 per cent, Oracle said the Beijing-based company would have no stake in TikTok Global. (The Wall Street Journal)

Talking point: TikTok faced being shut down on Sunday before its parent company and U.S. bidders updated the terms of the proposed acquisition, gaining approval from U.S. President Donald Trump. The spat over the basic terms, however, could compromise the deal. The arrangement includes plans to take the Chinese-owned company public on U.S. markets within the next 12 months, which would give U.S. investors majority control of the firm. The deal is adapted from one presented last week that would have seen Oracle take a minority stake in TikTok and let ByteDance remain the majority owner. Trump approved the latest iteration on the grounds that it was closer to his original order for TikTok to be wholly U.S.-owned. But misalignment over critical information like ownership stakes suggest the players involved are further from a Washington-approved deal than previously thought. Meanwhile, Washington is set to challenge an order issued Sunday from a federal judge blocking the Trump administration from banning new downloads of WeChat, another popular Chinese firm that Trump says is a national security threat.