TikTok has reached an agreement to transfer a significant portion of its U.S. operations to a group of American investors, ending a years-long battle in which the federal government tried to force the platform to do so.
An internal memo from ByteDance CEO Shou Chew, seen by TechCrunch, describes the new partnership as “a new TikTok U.S. joint venture.”
The deal will see a major US investor assume significant control of the US-based business. The newly formed investor group includes cloud giant Oracle, technology-focused private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based AI-focused investment firm MGX. Together, the companies will own 45% of the U.S. business, while ByteDance will maintain a nearly 20% share, the memo said. The new entity created by this partnership is named “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.”
The new organization will be responsible for oversight of the app, including data protection, algorithmic security, content moderation and software assurance, the memo said. “The trusted security partner will be responsible for auditing and verifying compliance with agreed national security provisions, and upon completion of the transaction, Oracle will become the trusted security partner,” the document states.
The closing date of the transaction is listed as January 22, 2026. The news was first reported by Axios.
Many of the agreements described in the memo are consistent with the language of an executive order passed by President Trump in September. The memo also authorized the sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to a group of U.S. investors. CNBC previously reported that Oracle, Silverlake and MGX will be the lead investors in the deal. ByteDance had not previously disclosed details of such a deal, other than to say it would comply with U.S. law to ensure TikTok remains available to U.S. users.
The U.S. government has long sought to separate TikTok's U.S.-based operations from its Chinese parent company, citing national security concerns.
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