Summary:
-
After years of legal battles, TikTok’s future in the US is settled with Oracle and Silver Lake leading the new company.
-
The deal beats a Jan. 23 deadline, forming a US-led entity with ByteDance retaining a minority holding.
-
TikTok’s joint venture is established with Adam Presser as CEO, ensuring data protection and algorithm security.
After years of legal battles, political brinkmanship, and last-minute extensions, TikTok’s future in the US is finally settled.
A White House official confirmed that the US and China have finalized a deal to spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new, American-led entity, narrowly beating a Jan. 23 deadline tied to a 120-day enforcement pause under former President Donald Trump’s September executive order.
The new company will be controlled by a consortium led by Oracle and Silver Lake, with MGX also taking a major stake. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance will retain a minority holding of 19.9%, staying just below the legal ownership threshold.
TikTok confirmed the joint venture is now formally established. Adam Presser, previously head of operations and trust and safety, will serve as CEO, while Will Farrell will oversee security and privacy.
The seven-member board will have a majority of American directors and authority over data protection, content moderation, and algorithm security. Oracle, which already hosted US user data under Project Texas, will now also oversee the retraining of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm using only US user data, a key concern for lawmakers.
The deal closes a saga that began under President Joe Biden, who signed a 2024 law requiring ByteDance to divest or face a ban. That law was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2025, prompting TikTok to briefly go dark before Trump delayed enforcement to allow negotiations to continue.
ADVERTISEMENT
For TikTok’s more than 200 million US users and the millions of businesses that rely on the app, the agreement removes the threat of an outright ban. Still, questions remain about how a US-only algorithm and governance structure could subtly change the platform’s feel over time.
For now, TikTok says users and advertisers should expect business as usual.
