TikTok Finalizes US Ownership Deal to Avoid
TikTok US ownership deal 2026 ban avoided
TikTok officially finalized a historic agreement on Thursday, January 22, 2026, to transfer control of its United States operations to a newly formed, majority-American-owned entity. The closing of the deal effectively sidesteps a looming nationwide ban that has threatened the platform’s 200 million American users since early 2025. Under the terms of the agreement, a new joint venture—TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC—has been established to manage the app’s US data security, content moderation, and algorithm oversight. President Donald Trump, who repeatedly delayed enforcement of the 2024 divestiture law while his administration sought this specific arrangement, praised the resolution on Truth Social, thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping for “ultimately approving the deal” and stating that the platform would now be owned by “Great American Patriots and Investors.”
The new ownership structure places 80.1% of the US joint venture in the hands of American and international investors, while the original parent company, ByteDance, retains a non-controlling 19.9% stake. The three principal managing investors are the cloud computing giant Oracle, the private equity firm Silver Lake, and the Abu Dhabi-based investment group MGX, each of whom holds a 15% share. Other notable investors include the Dell Family Office (the personal investment firm of Michael Dell), Alpha Wave Partners, and Susquehanna International Group. As part of the security framework, Oracle serves as the official security partner, responsible for hosting all US user data locally and securing the app’s source code and recommendation algorithms within its domestic cloud infrastructure.
The leadership of the new US entity will be spearheaded by Adam Presser, who previously served as TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety. He will serve as CEO alongside Will Farrell, who has been appointed Chief Security Officer. The venture is governed by a seven-member, majority-American board of directors that includes global TikTok CEO Shou Chew. While the US joint venture will maintain “interoperability” to ensure American creators remain part of the global TikTok community, it will operate under strict federal safeguards regarding data privacy and software assurance. ByteDance will continue to license its content algorithm to the US entity, which will then retrain and review the technology using US user data to eliminate concerns of foreign influence.
For the millions of businesses and creators who rely on the platform, the finalization of this deal brings an end to nearly two years of existential uncertainty. While the global TikTok entity controlled by ByteDance will still manage certain commercial functions like international advertising and e-commerce, the critical components of the US user experience—including what videos are served to feeds and how personal information is stored—are now under domestic oversight. The agreement represents a significant milestone in US-China relations and a victory for the Trump administration’s “transactional” approach to national security, ensuring that one of the world’s most influential media platforms remains operational while transitioning to a structure that satisfies American regulatory demands.
