In a final act to a long-running geopolitical drama, TikTok has officially closed a deal to divest its U.S. operations. The agreement, finalized just hours before the Trump Administration’s ban deadline, sees parent company ByteDance shift to a minority position, retaining only a 20% stake in the new entity. The remaining 80% ownership is now held by a consortium of non-Chinese investors, ensuring the app remains available to its millions of American users.
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The new structure is led by three major institutional investors, each holding a 15% stake:
- Oracle
- Silver Lake
- MGX (an Emirati state-owned firm)
Other participants include the private investment firm of Dell’s CEO. This settlement ends months of stagnant negotiations and leaked memos, providing the legal “divorce” from ByteDance required to satisfy U.S. national security mandates.
The joint venture is built around a “U.S.-first” operational model designed to wall off American user data from foreign influence. Key pillars of the agreement include:
See also
- Secure Infrastructure: All U.S. user data will reside exclusively within Oracle’s secure U.S. cloud environment.
- Algorithm Re-training: The TikTok algorithm for U.S. users will be retrained specifically on domestic data and managed by the new entity.
- Content Moderation: U.S.-based teams will have total oversight of content moderation.
- Expanded Coverage: These safety protocols will also extend to other ByteDance-originated apps in the U.S., including CapCut and Lemon8.
Crucially, the entity promises “interoperability,” meaning American creators will still be able to reach global audiences and U.S. users can still view international content.
A seven-member Board of Directors will oversee the venture, with a mandate that the majority of members be American citizens. Confirmed board members include TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Egon Durban (Silver Lake), Kenneth Glueck (Oracle), and David Scott (MGX).
