TikTok finalises deal to create US entity, averting nationwide ban
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TikTok said on Thursday it has finalised a deal to establish a new US entity, ending years of legal uncertainty and allowing the video-sharing platform to sidestep a nationwide ban.
The agreement, completed by TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance, creates a majority American-owned venture. US investors, including Larry Ellison’s Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, will together hold 80.1 percent of the new entity, while ByteDance will retain a 19.9 percent stake. Silver Lake, Oracle, and MGX will each own 15 percent, and the investment firm of Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell is also an investor.
The announcement comes five years after Donald Trump first threatened to ban TikTok during his first term.
The issue resurfaced in 2024 when Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban. The Supreme Court upheld the law in January 2025, but Trump delayed enforcement through executive orders while negotiations continued.
Under the new arrangement, Adam Presser will serve as chief executive of the US venture. It will be overseen by a seven-member board that includes executives from Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and TPG, as well as TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew.
TikTok said the US entity will operate with safeguards covering data protection, algorithm security, and content moderation. Oracle will oversee the video recommendation system, which will be retrained using US user data, although China will retain control of the underlying algorithm.
A White House official confirmed both governments approved the deal. Trump later thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying the agreement had helped save TikTok.