TikTok Signs Trump-Backed U.S. Sale Deal With Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX
TikTok has signed a Trump-backed agreement to sell its U.S. business to American investors, a move aimed at keeping the wildly popular app operating in the United States and averting a looming national ban. According to company memos and multiple news outlets, TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance reached binding terms with a group of investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and UAE-based MGX to form a new U.S. joint venture.
The stakes have been high for years as lawmakers pushed national security concerns over Taiwanese user data and Chinese influence. Congress passed a foreign-ownership law in 2024 requiring divestiture, and the Trump administration repeatedly extended deadlines to force a sale.
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Details released by Reuters and the Associated Press show the new entity — TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC — will be majority-owned by U.S. and allied investors, with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each taking significant shares while ByteDance holds a 19.9% stake, the maximum allowed under U.S. restrictions. American directors will control the board, and U.S. user data will be stored domestically under Oracle’s supervision.
Despite the agreement, questions persist over how much true control ByteDance retains, particularly around the algorithm that powers TikTok’s recommendation feed. Some analysts say Oracle’s role may be more oversight than ownership.
“Trump wants to hand over even more control of what you watch to his billionaire buddies,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in response to the deal.
What's to come?
The deal still requires final regulatory clearances in both the U.S. and China ahead of the January 22, 2026 closing date. What happens next is whether Congress or courts revisit foreign-ownership rules or enforce new conditions on data protections.
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