TikTok, owned by the Chinese language firm ByteDance, has been on the heart of controversy within the U.S. for 4 years now on account of considerations about person knowledge probably being accessed by the Chinese language authorities.
In consequence, U.S. customers have usually discovered themselves caught in the course of this pressure. Earlier this 12 months, the app skilled a brief outage within the U.S. that left thousands and thousands of customers in suspense earlier than it was rapidly restored. TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store in February.
A variety of buyers competed to buy the app, and after Trump prolonged the TikTok ban deadline for the fourth time, the battle is lastly over. As of last week, TikTok formally signed a deal to divest a portion of its U.S. entity to a bunch of American buyers.
This comes practically three months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that approves the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American investor group.
Per week prior, President Trump announced that President Xi Jinping of China had given his approval of a TikTok deal, which might permit a consortium of U.S. buyers to manage the platform. ByteDance said publicly that it will make sure the platform stays out there to American customers.
Who owns TikTok within the U.S.?
In line with a memo considered by TechCrunch, the investor group consists of Oracle, non-public fairness agency Silver Lake, and funding agency MGX. Collectively, they’ll maintain 45% of the U.S. operation, with ByteDance maintaining practically a 20% stake. Axios first reported the information, citing sources who estimate TikTok U.S. is valued at roughly $14 billion—a determine additionally talked about by Vice President JD Vance.
In September, a report indicated {that a} “framework” deal was established between the U.S. and China, with a consortium of buyers— together with Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz—overseeing TikTok’s U.S. operations. These buyers have been anticipated to carry an 80% stake, and the remaining shares would belong to Chinese language stakeholders.
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The newly shaped “TikTok USDS Joint Enterprise LLC” will oversee the app’s operations, together with knowledge safety, algorithm safety, content material moderation, and software program assurance.
Oracle will function the trusted safety accomplice, liable for auditing and guaranteeing compliance with Nationwide Safety Phrases, in response to the memo. The corporate already supplies cloud companies for TikTok and manages person knowledge within the U.S. Notably, Oracle beforehand made a bid for TikTok again in 2020.
A White Home official beforehand stated Oracle would replicate and safe a brand new U.S. model of the algorithm, and the U.S.-based TikTok homeowners might lease the algorithm from ByteDance, which Oracle will then retrain.
ByteDance is not going to have entry to details about TikTok’s U.S. customers or any affect over the U.S. algorithm.
The deal is scheduled to shut on January 22, 2026.
What customers within the U.S. ought to know
Reports from Bloomberg point out that when the deal is finalized, the TikTok app will likely be discontinued within the U.S. and customers might want to transition to a brand new platform. Nevertheless, the specifics of this platform stay largely unclear, together with its options and the way it will differ from the unique app.
How did we get right here?
To totally perceive this high-stakes drama, we’ll first revisit the timeline of TikTok’s tumultuous relationship with the U.S. authorities, which resulted in numerous authorized battles and negotiations.
The drama first started in August 2020, when Trump signed an govt order to ban transactions with dad or mum firm ByteDance.
A month later, Trump’s administration sought to pressure a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a U.S.-based firm. The main contenders included Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart. Nevertheless, a U.S. decide briefly blocked Trump’s govt order, permitting TikTok to proceed working whereas the authorized battle unfolded.
Issues started to progress much more final 12 months following the transition to the Biden administration. After the Senate handed the invoice in opposition to TikTok, President Joe Biden signed it.
In response, TikTok sued the U.S. government, difficult the constitutionality of the ban and arguing the app and its American customers have been having their First Modification rights violated. The corporate has persistently denied that it poses a safety menace, asserting that its knowledge saved within the U.S. complies with all native legal guidelines.
Quick-forward to immediately: Trump has had a change of coronary heart since his first time period and is attempting to realize a 50-50 possession association between ByteDance and a U.S. firm.
There have been a number of contenders, together with The People’s Bid for TikTok , a consortium organized by Venture Liberty founder Frank McCourt. This group has the assist of funding agency Guggenheim Securities and the regulation agency Kirkland & Ellis. Supporters embody Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, TV persona and investor Kevin O’Leary, inventor of the World Broad Internet Tim Berners-Lee, and senior analysis scientist David Clark.
One other group, referred to as the American Investor Consortium, is led by Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley and consists of Roblox co-founder David Baszucki, Anchorage Digital co-founder Nathan McCauley, and well-known YouTuber MrBeast.
Others within the operating included Amazon, AppLovin, Microsoft, Perplexity AI, Rumble, Walmart, Zoop, former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The story has been up to date after publication.
