TikTok has agreed to give a large part of its U.S. operations to a group of American investors, ending years of disputes with the federal government, which had been pushing for the company to do exactly that.
TikTok to Hand Over Major Part of US Business to American Investors
According to an internal memo from ByteDance CEO Shou Chew, the new partnership will create a “TikTok U.S. joint venture.” In this deal, major U.S. investors including Oracle, the private equity firm Silverlake, and Abu Dhabi-based AI investment firm MGX will take a 45% stake in TikTok’s U.S. operations, while ByteDance will retain nearly 20%. The new company is named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.
This new entity will oversee TikTok in the U.S., including data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance. Oracle will serve as the “trusted security partner,” auditing and validating compliance with national security rules.
The deal is expected to close on January 22, 2026. Much of the agreement aligns with an executive order signed by former President Trump, which also called for TikTok’s U.S. operations to be sold to American investors. Until now, ByteDance had only said it would comply with U.S. law to keep the app available to American users.
The move addresses long-standing national security concerns by separating TikTok’s U.S. business from its Chinese parent company.
