After years of regulatory scrutiny, legal wrangling, and temporary outages affecting millions of users, TikTok has signed a deal to restructure its U.S. operations under a new American-controlled entity.
The Deal Structure
CEO Shou Zi Chew announced that the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will officially launch on January 22, 2026. The joint venture consolidates U.S. ownership while maintaining global operations under ByteDance. Key ownership allocations include:
- Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX: 15% each (45% combined)
- ByteDance investor affiliates: 30%
- ByteDance itself: just under 20%
This configuration ensures that American investors hold the majority, meeting requirements set by Congress in 2025 to either sell TikTok’s U.S. business or face a ban.
National Security and Oversight
The joint venture will manage data protection, content moderation, recommendation algorithms, and core app systems, addressing long-standing concerns in Washington over foreign control.
- Oracle, which currently hosts TikTok’s U.S. data, will act as a trusted security partner, auditing compliance with national security requirements.
- The recommendation algorithm for U.S. users will be retrained using only American data, isolating feeds from external influence.
Meanwhile, ByteDance’s global operations will continue handling e-commerce, advertising, marketing, and app maintenance, ensuring the platform remains consistent worldwide.
Timeline and Valuation
The deal values TikTok’s U.S. business at approximately $14 billion, reflecting negotiations with both the U.S. and Chinese governments. The new structure resolves regulatory pressures that first emerged in 2020 under former President Trump and were revisited in 2025.
The January 22, 2026 deadline follows a 120-day timeline set by Trump’s executive order in September 2025 to finalize the sale and restructure operations.
What Users Can Expect
For TikTok users, creators, and advertisers, the transition promises minimal disruption. The app will retain all existing features, communities, and global connectivity, with the key difference being that core U.S. systems will now be American-controlled and independently audited.
