ConnexionTikTok Avoids US Ban as Joint Venture Deal Officially Closes
TikTok has announced that it has finalized a deal to establish a majority American-owned joint venture, allowing the app to continue operating in the United States indefinitely.
First agreed in December, the deal creates "TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC," which will be 80.1 percent owned by U.S. and global investors, with ByteDance retaining a 19.9 percent stake. Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX each hold 15 percent as managing investors. Additional stakeholders include the Dell Family Office and affiliates of Susquehanna International Group.
A White House official confirmed that both the U.S. and Chinese governments have signed off on the arrangement.
President Trump praised the outcome in a social media post, writing that he was "so happy to have helped in saving TikTok," and thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping "for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal."
The new venture will operate under a seven-member, majority-American board of directors. Adam Presser, formerly TikTok's general manager and global head of operations, has been appointed CEO of the joint venture. TikTok's global chief executive Shou Zi Chew will also serve on the board.
Under the agreement, the venture will handle U.S. data protection, content moderation, and algorithm security. TikTok's recommendation algorithm – widely considered key to the app's popularity – will be retrained exclusively on U.S. user data and secured within Oracle's cloud infrastructure. Oracle will also serve as a "Trusted Security Partner" to review and validate TikTok's source code.
The deal ends years of regulatory uncertainty that began in August 2020, when Trump first tried to ban the app during his first term. Congress passed legislation in 2024 requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. The law was upheld by the Supreme Court in January 2025. Trump has extended the deadline multiple times since then to let the negotiations play out.
TikTok has more than 200 million users in the United States. It's unclear exactly how the restructured algorithm will affect the user experience, but the app could end up working differently compared to TikTok in other countries.
This article, "TikTok Avoids US Ban as Joint Venture Deal Officially Closes" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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First agreed in December, the deal creates "TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC," which will be 80.1 percent owned by U.S. and global investors, with ByteDance retaining a 19.9 percent stake. Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX each hold 15 percent as managing investors. Additional stakeholders include the Dell Family Office and affiliates of Susquehanna International Group.
A White House official confirmed that both the U.S. and Chinese governments have signed off on the arrangement.
President Trump praised the outcome in a social media post, writing that he was "so happy to have helped in saving TikTok," and thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping "for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal."
The new venture will operate under a seven-member, majority-American board of directors. Adam Presser, formerly TikTok's general manager and global head of operations, has been appointed CEO of the joint venture. TikTok's global chief executive Shou Zi Chew will also serve on the board.
Under the agreement, the venture will handle U.S. data protection, content moderation, and algorithm security. TikTok's recommendation algorithm – widely considered key to the app's popularity – will be retrained exclusively on U.S. user data and secured within Oracle's cloud infrastructure. Oracle will also serve as a "Trusted Security Partner" to review and validate TikTok's source code.
The deal ends years of regulatory uncertainty that began in August 2020, when Trump first tried to ban the app during his first term. Congress passed legislation in 2024 requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. The law was upheld by the Supreme Court in January 2025. Trump has extended the deadline multiple times since then to let the negotiations play out.
TikTok has more than 200 million users in the United States. It's unclear exactly how the restructured algorithm will affect the user experience, but the app could end up working differently compared to TikTok in other countries.
Tag: TikTok
This article, "TikTok Avoids US Ban as Joint Venture Deal Officially Closes" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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