Sayegh, the communications director for one of TikTok’s biggest investors, has become an unofficial advisor to the Chinese-owned social media giant as it seeks to survive in the geopolitical crosshairs of the world’s two superpowers. was.
He turned to a seemingly unlikely candidate for TikTok’s savior: Donald Trump. Donald Trump, then the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, began efforts to ban TikTok during his first term. Mr. Sayegh began backchanneling Trump’s inner circle to help President Biden, who would appear tough on China, and Meta Platforms, which Mr. Trump believed had a negative impact on his 2020 re-election bid. He argued that handing victory to both would be foolish.
Hours after the White House signaled support for banning TikTok, President Trump announced his support for TikTok. President Trump posted on his social media network Truth Social, referring to Mehta CEO Mark Zuckerberg with a Yiddish obscenity, saying, “If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook… And Zuckerschmuck’s business will double.”
Executives celebrated on TikTok. Their optimism grew after Trump won a second term this month, raising the prospect that he could make good on his campaign promise to lift the ban and breathe new life into the app in its most important markets. It has increased.
TikTok has reached out to Elon Musk in recent weeks seeking insight on the incoming administration, The Wall Street Journal reported. Musk is the owner of rival social media platform X and one of the president-elect’s closest confidants.
What will happen remains to be seen. The law mandating the divestment or ban was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. TikTok filed a lawsuit challenging the law in May, and a court decision is expected by early December. If TikTok loses the lawsuit, it could be banned or sold by January 19, the day before President Trump’s inauguration.
Mr. Trump will face constraints if he attempts to change course. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee, said last week that the next president can try to change the law, but not ignore it.
President Trump’s press secretary said he intends to follow through on his campaign promise. “He’ll deliver,” she said.
What’s clear is that TikTok executives believe Trump’s victory gave the company its best chance of remaining in the U.S., and they owe this potential lifeline in part to Sayegh. That is what I believe.
This account of Sayeg’s role in TikTok’s changing fortunes is based on interviews with current and former executives at TikTok and parent company ByteDance, investors in the company, and current and former U.S. officials.
Born in the 1960s as the son of Lebanese immigrants, Sayegh grew up in Brooklyn and then Westchester County, a suburb of New York City. He was obsessed with becoming a child actor.
“I went to multiple auditions,” he said on a podcast earlier this year. “I didn’t get many calls.”
He said the experience taught him not to be afraid of failure and inspired him to pursue his other passion, politics. After graduating from George Washington University, he briefly worked in his family’s stone import business before joining a prominent Republican consulting firm and then Fox News.
He joined the Trump administration as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs. A devout Catholic, he made the sign of the cross before entering the Treasury, partly to thank God for giving him his dream job. He then directed the White House’s Office of Impeachment and Defense.
In 2023, he became the director of communications for Susquehanna International Group, one of ByteDance’s largest investors.
Pennsylvania-based investment firm Susquehanna was an early investor in ByteDance and currently owns about a 15% stake, valued at more than $45 billion on paper based on recent share buybacks. There is a possibility. Approximately half of that stock is owned personally by Susquehanna co-founder Jeff Yass. Jeff Yass is a major Republican donor who has supported many liberal-leaning members of Congress who oppose banning TikTok.
TikTok executives have previously said that the Chinese parent company could concern lawmakers who are concerned that the Chinese government could rely on ByteDance to influence information about TikTok users and the content TikTok provides. I knew from TikTok has said it will not respond to such requests, but it is also pursuing a strategy to distance itself from ByteDance.
After President Trump announced he would ban TikTok in 2020, TikTok proposed a plan called “Project Texas” that sought to cut off U.S. users’ data from China. TikTok executives believed that Project Texas would have allayed Trump’s concerns had he won the 2020 election.
Trump did not win, and momentum to ban TikTok in the United States accelerated under the Biden administration. In early 2023, TikTok CEO Shou Chu assembled a dream team of advisors to protect TikTok. Mr. Susquehanna often backs portfolio companies, and executives believed TikTok’s plight needed close attention. Susquehanna sent Sayegh to help.
Sayegh is close to Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, and speaks regularly with people close to Trump, according to people familiar with his activities. He continues to call.
Sayegh regularly attends meetings with TikTok’s political advisers, including former Obama administration advisers David Plouffe and Jim Messina. Sessions often focused on how to win support from key Democrats and Republicans.
Sayegh later suggested to the group that he was trying to get Trump himself to join TikTok. TikTok had advantages over other social networks, including never banning President Trump from the platform. Before the law was enacted in April banning or selling TikTok, the platform believed its executives were having productive conversations with the Trump campaign about joining the app, and Sayegh told Trump campaign executives Trump, on the other hand, said joining TikTok could help him court younger voters.
Trump eventually joined TikTok in June, saying he would “save TikTok” in one of his first videos.
Sayegh’s boss, Yas, also supports the Republican Party through the Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group that brings together conservatives opposed to the TikTok ban, and President Trump announced earlier this year that Speaking at the training camp, he said that he and the group had “rediscovered our love again.” ”
Meanwhile, Sayegh and other TikTok executives turned to conservative influencers like Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk to support their cause.
Throughout the campaign, Sayegh kept Chu informed of his progress.
TikTok also encouraged other Republicans to join the influence campaign. He hired Ballard Partners, one of the lobbying firms closest to Trump.
Additionally, ByteDance board member and investor Bill Ford maintains contact with people close to Trump, and his wife donated more than $800,000 to Trump and other conservative groups last year. are.
Since the election, Mr. Saig has continued to meet with Mr. Trump’s aides.
Executives at TikTok and its parent company are hoping President Trump will delay enforcement of the ban, allowing them to negotiate a deal to continue operating in the U.S. despite the difficulty of repealing the law. He says he may be able to find a way.
On election night, Sayegh watched the results announced at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Florida, where Trump was also in attendance.
After Trump won, Sayegh and other TikTok executives celebrated again.
Raffaele Huang contributed to this article.
Email Georgia Wells (georgia.wells@wsj.com), Dana Mattioli (dana.mattioli@wsj.com), and Stu Woo (Stu.Woo@wsj.com).
