TikTok’s future in the United States has just been secured. The Chinese-owned platform announced a deal that will hand over its U.S. operations to a trio of American investors: Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. The agreement, set to close on Jan. 22, ends a long period of uncertainty about whether the app would remain available after a U.S. law threatened to ban it.
New Ownership Structure
The joint venture created by the deal will be split in a way that gives the new investors a majority stake. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will each hold 15 % of the U.S. company, together making up 45 % of the ownership. A further 30.1 % will belong to affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, while the China-based parent will retain 19.9 %. The memo also notes that the U.S. venture will be governed by a seven-member board that is majority American.
Data and Security Safeguards
According to the internal memo, the new U.S. entity will be bound by terms that “protect Americans’ data and U.S. national security.” All user data generated in the United States will be stored locally in a system operated by Oracle. The arrangement is designed to keep sensitive information within U.S. borders and under domestic oversight.
Algorithm and Content Moderation
The memo states that TikTok’s algorithm will be retrained on U.S. user data “to ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation.” The U.S. venture will also take responsibility for content moderation and policy enforcement within the country, ensuring that the platform’s practices align with American regulations.
Legislative and Executive Context
The sale follows a series of legislative and executive actions that kept TikTok alive in the United States. Congress passed a bipartisan law that would have banned the app in January 2025 if a new owner was not found. President Joe Biden signed that law, but President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order to keep TikTok operating while a sale was pursued. Trump later issued three additional orders-one in April, another in June, and a final one in September-to extend the deadline and allow the platform to continue running under conditions that meet national-security concerns. The April order was tied to a near-deal that collapsed after China withdrew its backing following Trump’s tariff announcement.
Key Takeaways
- TikTok’s U.S. business will be sold to Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, with each investor holding 15 % of the new venture.
- The deal preserves 30.1 % of ownership for ByteDance affiliates and 19.9 % for the parent company, while establishing a majority-American board.
- Local data storage, algorithm retraining, and new content-moderation oversight are built into the agreement to address security and regulatory requirements.
With the sale closed, TikTok can resume normal operations in the United States, confident that its data handling and content practices meet the country’s security expectations.
