TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the United States for the past four years, largely due to concerns that user data could be accessed by the Chinese government.
Because of this, U.S. users have frequently been caught in the middle of the ongoing political tension. Earlier this year, TikTok briefly went offline in the U.S., leaving millions of users uncertain about the app’s future before service was quickly restored. The platform returned to both the App Store and Google Play Store in February.
Several investor groups competed to acquire TikTok, and after President Donald Trump extended the ban deadline for the fourth time, the situation has finally reached a conclusion. As of last week, TikTok officially finalized a deal to divest part of its U.S. business to a group of American investors.
This development comes nearly three months after President Trump signed an executive order approving the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American investor consortium.
A week before that announcement, President Trump stated that Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved a TikTok deal that would allow U.S. investors to take control of the platform. ByteDance also publicly said it would ensure TikTok remains available to users in the United States.
Who owns TikTok in the U.S.?
According to a memo obtained by TechCrunch, the investor group includes Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake and investment firm MGX. Together, they will control 45 percent of TikTok’s U.S. operations, while ByteDance will retain close to a 20 percent stake. Axios was the first to report the details, citing sources who estimate TikTok’s U.S. business is valued at roughly $14 billion — a figure also referenced by Vice President JD Vance.
Back in September, reports suggested that a “framework” agreement had been reached between the United States and China. Under that arrangement, a consortium of investors — including Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz — would oversee TikTok’s U.S. operations. Those investors were expected to hold an 80 percent stake, with the remaining shares owned by Chinese stakeholders.
Under the finalized structure, a newly created entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will manage the platform’s U.S. operations. Its responsibilities will include data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance.
Oracle will act as the trusted security partner, tasked with auditing TikTok’s operations and ensuring compliance with national security requirements, according to the memo. Oracle already provides cloud services for TikTok and oversees U.S. user data. The company had also previously attempted to acquire TikTok in 2020.
A White House official previously stated that Oracle would replicate and secure a new U.S.-specific version of TikTok’s algorithm. Under this arrangement, the U.S.-based TikTok entity would license the algorithm from ByteDance, after which Oracle would retrain it.
ByteDance will not have access to data belonging to U.S. TikTok users, nor will it have any influence over the U.S. version of the algorithm.
The deal is expected to close on January 22, 2026.
What U.S. users should know
According to reports from Bloomberg, once the deal is finalized, the current TikTok app will be discontinued in the United States, and users will need to move to a new platform. However, details about this replacement platform — including its features and how it will differ from the existing app — remain unclear.
How did we get here?
To understand how this high-stakes situation unfolded, it’s necessary to look back at TikTok’s long and complicated relationship with the U.S. government, which has involved years of legal disputes and negotiations.
The controversy began in August 2020, when then-President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to ban transactions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.
One month later, the Trump administration moved to force the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American company. Microsoft, Oracle and Walmart emerged as leading bidders at the time. However, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked the executive order, allowing TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. while legal challenges played out.
Momentum picked up again last year following the transition to the Biden administration. After the Senate passed legislation targeting TikTok, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law.
In response, TikTok filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, arguing that the ban was unconstitutional and violated the First Amendment rights of both the company and its American users. TikTok has consistently denied posing a national security risk, maintaining that U.S. user data is stored domestically and handled in compliance with local laws.
Today, Trump has shifted his stance from his first term and is now pushing for a 50–50 ownership structure between ByteDance and a U.S.-based entity.
Several groups have emerged as potential buyers. Among them is The People’s Bid for TikTok, a consortium organized by Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt, with backing from Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Supporters of the bid include Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, investor and TV personality Kevin O’Leary, World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and senior research scientist David Clark.
Another contender, known as the American Investor Consortium, is led by Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley. The group also includes Roblox co-founder David Baszucki, Anchorage Digital co-founder Nathan McCauley and prominent YouTuber MrBeast.
Other potential bidders that were reportedly in the mix included Amazon, AppLovin, Microsoft, Perplexity AI, Rumble, Walmart, Zoop, former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.