WASHINGTON, D.C.: After years of regulatory pressure and legal uncertainty, TikTok has secured a path to remain operational in the United States by reshaping its ownership and data governance structure.
TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance, said it has finalised an agreement to create a new joint venture majority-owned by American and global investors, a move aimed at preventing a U.S. ban on the short-video platform used by more than 200 million Americans.
The deal marks a turning point in a dispute that dates back to August 2020, when U.S. President Donald Trump first sought to block the app over national security concerns. Trump later chose not to enforce a law passed in April 2024 that required ByteDance to divest its U.S. assets by January or face a ban, a requirement later upheld by the Supreme Court.
ByteDance said the new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, will safeguard U.S. user data, apps, and algorithms through enhanced data privacy and cybersecurity measures. The company provided limited details on the divestiture.
Trump welcomed the agreement in a social media post, saying TikTok "will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World."
He also thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping "for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal. He could have gone the other way, but didn't, and is appreciated for his decision."
Under the agreement, American and global investors will hold 80.1 percent of the venture, while ByteDance will retain a 19.9 percent stake.
The joint venture's three managing investors — Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based investment group MGX — will each own 15 percent.
A White House official told Reuters that both the U.S. and Chinese governments had approved the transaction. The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump said last year that the deal satisfied divestiture requirements under the 2024 law. In September, the White House said the new venture would operate TikTok's U.S. app, though details of the ongoing business relationship between ByteDance and the venture have not been fully disclosed.
Trump, who has more than 16 million followers on his personal TikTok account, has credited the platform with helping him win re-election. The White House also launched an official TikTok account in August.
TikTok said investors in the venture include the Dell Family Office, run by Michael Dell, along with Vastmere Strategic Investments, Alpha Wave Partners, Revolution, Merritt Way, Via Nova, Virgo LI, and NJJ Capital.
Former TikTok USDS executives Adam Presser and Will Farrell were named chief executive officer and chief security officer, respectively. TikTok CEO Shou Chew will also sit on the venture's board.
TikTok said the venture will retrain, test, and update its content recommendation algorithm using U.S. user data, with the algorithm secured in Oracle's U.S. cloud infrastructure.
In September, it was reported that ByteDance would retain ownership of TikTok's U.S. business operations while ceding control over user data, content, and the algorithm to the venture. Sources said revenue-generating activities such as advertising and e-commerce would remain under a separate ByteDance-owned unit, while the new venture would earn fees for technology and data services.
