As President Trump continues to postpone a legally mandated ban on TikTok, he is reaping campaign cash from one of the app’s biggest financial backers. Billionaire Jeff Yass, whose firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG) is a major investor in TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, donated $16 million to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., in the first half of 2025, according to a new FEC filing.
Yass’s firm reportedly owns around 15 percent of ByteDance, and Yass himself holds a 7 percent stake, valued at up to $34 billion based on ByteDance’s internal valuation of about $400 billion. SIG is listed as a ByteDance investor on the company’s website and holds a seat on its board. Since January, Trump has issued a series of executive orders delaying enforcement of the TikTok ban. The ban was initially set for January 19 under the law passed by Congress in 2024 that requires ByteDance to sell off the app or have it taken down by app stores and web hosting services.
Trump’s first delay came at the start of his new term, on January 20, pausing enforcement for 75 days. He extended it again on April 4 and once more on June 19, pushing the deadline to September 17. The law only allows for one 90-day extension, though Trump has now paused its enforcement three times.
According to the filing, Yass made a $1 million donation to MAGA Inc. on January 17, three days before Trump took office and issued the first delay. He then made another $15 million donation on March 6, about four weeks before the second delay. Both donations came as the fate of TikTok was being negotiated inside the White House. These were Yass’s first-ever donations to a Trump-affiliated political group, and the $15 million check was the largest single contribution he has made to any committee, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Yass’s early bet on ByteDance has made him one of the world’s richest men. SIG acquired its stake in 2012 when ByteDance was valued at just $5 billion. Today, Forbes estimates Yass’s personal fortune at $59 billion. He is one of the most prolific political donors to conservative causes, having given more than $50 million over the years to the Club for Growth super PAC, plus millions more to other pro-Republican political groups.
Trump initially wanted to ban TikTok during his first term, citing national security concerns over its Chinese ownership, but he reversed his position during the 2024 campaign, saying the ban would help its rival Meta grow larger.
Reuters has reported that Yass and SIG have explored bids to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations, a potential workaround that would preserve their massive stake. According to the report, Yass has been leading discussions on the plan with the White House, and private equity firm KKR, another ByteDance investor, is also participating.
MAGA Inc. raised almost $176 million in the first half of this year and was sitting on $196.1 million cash on hand as of the end of June, according to its FEC filing. The PAC has spent over $4.6 million so far this cycle, including event spending at Mar-a-Lago Club. The war chest is expected to be wielded by Trump against his political rivals as soon as the 2026 midterms.
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