TikTok completed a deal for its U.S. entity, with parent ByteDance selling a majority stake to a consortium of non-Chinese investors ahead of a Trump administration deadline. ByteDance will retain 20% of the new entity, while TikTok investors will hold 80%.
Oracle, Silver Lake, and Emirati state-owned investment firm MGX each acquired 15% stakes. The investment firm of Dell’s CEO is also among the investors. This agreement prevents a U.S. ban on the application, a prospect for several years.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew informed employees of the investor agreement in a memo last month. The joint venture will protect American user data through Oracle’s secure U.S. cloud environment, retrain TikTok’s algorithm using U.S. user data, and manage U.S. content moderation. The entity promises interoperability, allowing users to access international content and creators to reach global audiences.
“The safeguards provided by the Joint Venture will also cover CapCut, and Lemon8 and a portfolio of other apps and websites in the US,” TikTok said.
A seven-member board of directors will oversee the new entity, with most members being American. Board members include TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban, Oracle Executive Vice President Kenneth Glueck, and MGX Chief Strategy and Safety Officer David Scott.
