ByteDance, the Chinese company owning TikTok, has signed a legally binding agreement with U.S. and foreign investors to establish a joint venture that will primarily own TikTok's U.S. business. TikTok CEO Zhou Chuanzi informed employees that the deal will be completed on 22 January.
An internal memo states that the investor group, including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, an investment firm from the United Arab Emirates, will collectively hold half of the joint venture's shares. ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake, while 30.1% will remain with ByteDance’s original investors. Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX will each hold 15%.
The agreement aims to end the U.S. government's long-standing efforts to have ByteDance divest TikTok's U.S. operations due to national security concerns. It aligns with the framework revealed last September, when President Donald Trump suspended enforcement of a law that would ban the app if the business was not sold.
TikTok stated that this deal will allow more than 170 million Americans to continue using the platform. The White House previously noted that Oracle would receive licensing rights to TikTok's content recommendation algorithm under the deal.
Earlier, in April 2024, the U.S. Congress passed legislation banning TikTok unless its U.S. operations were sold, effective from 20 January 2025. The deadline was postponed multiple times during negotiations under the Trump administration. Trump revealed he had received approval from Chinese President Xi Jinping, although the platform's future remained uncertain after the leaders met in October.
However, the agreement faces criticism from some U.S. senators. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said the deal does not protect Americans' privacy and it remains unclear whether it will genuinely secure the algorithm, despite provisions requiring retraining the algorithm using U.S. user data to prevent external interference.
Among users, some small business owners have voiced concerns. Tiffany Xiansi, a small business owner with over 300,000 followers, expressed hope that new investors would preserve the existing user experience and protect entrepreneurs. TikTok stated that over 7 million small businesses use the platform for marketing in the U.S., a key reason why many users have campaigned to keep the platform available.
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