TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the US for years over concerns about user data the Chinese government may have access to.
On Thursday, January 22, 2026, TikTok was announced that TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC had been formally established to comply with President Trump’s executive order authorizing the sale of TikTok’s US operations to an American investor group. Now, ByteDance will own less than 20% of the new entity, with the rest held by non-Chinese ownership.
Over the years, US users have often found themselves in the middle of this tension, facing uncertainty about how their access to the app would change — for creators who use TikTok to make a living, the stakes were even higher. Last year, the app experienced a temporary outage in the US that left millions of users in limbo before it was quickly restored. TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store on February 2, 2025.
Some investors competed to buy the app, and after President Trump extended the deadline to ban TikTok for a fourth time, the battle finally stopped. In December 2025, TikTok officially signed an agreement to divest part of its American entity to a group of American investors.
Earlier in 2025, President Trump had announced that China’s President Xi Jinping had given his approval for a TikTok deal that would allow a consortium of American investors to control the platform. ByteDance has publicly stated that it will ensure that the platform remains available to US users.
Who owns TikTok in the US?
ByteDance will retain nearly 20% of the company’s shares, while non-Chinese investors will hold the remaining 80% of its ownership TikTok USDS Consortium.
The investor management team consists of Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake and investment firm MGX. These three investors will each own 15% of the US business, or 45% collectively.
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Other investors, which include existing ByteDance investors, make up another 35% of the venture’s ownership. This includes the Dell Family Office (Michael Dell’s investment company), Susquehanna subsidiary Vastmere, Alpha Wave Partners, and many others, listed in TikTok press release.
References assessment that TikTok US is valued at around $14 billion — a figure also cited by VP JD Vance.
The newly formed ‘TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC’ will oversee the app’s operations, including data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance.
Oracle will act as the trusted security partner responsible for auditing and ensuring compliance with the National Security Terms, according to a memo. The company already provides cloud services for TikTok and manages user data in the US. Notably, Oracle previously bid for TikTok in 2020.
A White House official previously said Oracle would replicate and secure a new US version of the algorithm, and US-based TikTok owners could lease the algorithm from ByteDance, which Oracle would then retrain.
ByteDance will not have access to information about US TikTok users or any influence on the US algorithm.
How will TikTok change for US users?
Since the deal has just been finalized, it’s unclear exactly how TikTok’s 200 million American users will be affected.
While earlier exhibitions suggested that US users may need to switch to a new platform, most recent reports have denied this claim, assuring users that they will not need to download a new app.
It’s also unclear how user algorithmic feeds will be affected at this time.
How did we get here?
To fully understand this high-stakes drama, we’ll first review the timeline of TikTok’s tumultuous relationship with the US government, which has led to various legal battles and negotiations.
The drama first began in August 2020, when Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with parent company ByteDance.
A month later, the Trump administration tried to force the sale of TikTok’s US operations to a US-based company. The top contenders were Microsoft, Oracle and Walmart. However, a US judge temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order, allowing TikTok to continue operating while the legal battle unfolded.
Things started to move even further after the transition to the Biden administration. After the Senate passed the anti-TikTok bill, President Joe Biden signed it into law.
In response, TikTok sued the US government, challenging the constitutionality of the ban and arguing that the app and its American users are violating their First Amendment rights. The company repeatedly denies that it poses a security threat, claiming that its data stored in the US complies with all local laws.
Fast forward to 2024: Trump he had changed his mind since his first term and tried to achieve a 50-50 ownership deal between ByteDance and an American company.
There were several candidates, including The People’s Bid for TikToka consortium organized by Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt. This group was backed by the investment firm Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Among the supporters was the co-founder of Reddit Alexis OhanianTV personality and investor Kevin O’LearyWorld Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and senior research scientist David Clark.
Another group, called the American Investor Consortium, was in charge Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley and includes the co-founder of Roblox David BasukiAnchorage Digital co-founder Nathan McCauley and famous YouTuber MrBeast.
Others in the running were Amazon, AppLovinMicrosoft, Perplexity AI, RumbleWalmart, Zoop, former CEO of Activision Bobby Kotickand former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Story has been updated after publication.
