The United States and China have signed off on a deal that hands control of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a group of investors backed by President Donald Trump.
TikTok said Thursday in a news release that a new company, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, would ensure the app continues to be available in the U.S. The company will "operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users," the statement said.
ByteDance, TikTok's Beijing-based owner, will retain a 19.9% stake in the U.S. operation. The joint venture will be governed by a seven-member board of directors.
The new company will be led by Adam Presser, with TikTok CEO Shou Chew serving on the board of directors, TikTok said in the release. The majority of the board's members are American, it noted.
The deal, facilitated by the Trump administration, means the U.S. version of TikTok will become majority-owned by a group of investors that includes the American tech giant Oracle, the California-based private equity fund Silver Lake and the United Arab Emirates investment firm MGX.
In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump praised his administration for helping "bring this Deal to a very dramatic, final, and beautiful conclusion."
"I would also like to thank President Xi, of China, for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal," Trump added. "He could have gone the other way, but didn't, and is appreciated for his decision."
The announcement ends a yearslong saga in which the popular short-form video platform was subject to years of scrutiny across the political aisle in the U.S. over its Chinese ownership. Both Trump and former President Joe Biden had cited national security concerns in their attempts to push for a nationwide ban.
Americans make up TikTok’s largest user and creator bases, with more than 200 million active users in the country.
Such a ban almost came to fruition just over a year ago, when the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was supposed to take effect. The bipartisan bill, which was upheld by the Supreme Court, required ByteDance to sell the platform to an American company or face a ban.
The looming threat of a nationwide TikTok shutdown stirred a mass exodus of users who, in fear of losing their audiences and income streams, migrated to other social media platforms, like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Many, to express their spite for U.S. lawmakers, also inundated the Chinese social media app RedNote.
But aside from its briefly going dark on the eve of the ban, TikTok it has remained consistently available to its American users as Trump repeatedly issued executive orders to delay the ban. He extended TikTok’s shutdown deadline four times before he announced a tentative deal between Washington and Beijing in September.
Even after the ban’s initial signing, there were signs that a deal would emerge as popular discontent about the decision surged.
Last January, the Biden White House said it would pass responsibility for its enforcement to Trump’s incoming administration, and congressional leaders who had once championed the ban seemed to shy away from enforcing it, as well.
Trump has also flip-flopped on his attitude toward TikTok. In 2020, during his first term, he signed an executive order to effectively ban it; that order was later halted in court. By 2024, however, he openly voiced his opposition to a TikTok ban and joined the platform in an attempt to reach young voters, even publishing a video promising to "save TikTok."
Trump also took an active role in advocating for certain U.S. interests. Almost exactly a year ago, he said he'd like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison to buy it. Ellison, an ardent Trump supporter, remains chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle, which is a managing investor of the new U.S. TikTok operation, with a 15% ownership stake.
TikTok's powerful recommendation algorithm, which dictates much of what users see, was of particular interest with regard to the app's future. TikTok said in its release that the new U.S. company "will retrain, test, and update the content recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data. The content recommendation algorithm will be secured in Oracle’s U.S. cloud environment."
U.S. user data will also be stored in Oracle's cloud computing operation and subject to data privacy and security review by third-party cybersecurity experts.
Though the U.S. operation has split off from ByteDance's control, TikTok said the app will continue to operate as "a global TikTok experience, ensuring U.S. creators can be discovered and businesses can operate on a global scale."
