Business Desk 
Dec 20, 2025
TikTok is a short video-sharing app used by millions to create, share, and watch videos according to an algorithm. The company has finally reached an agreement to divest a sufficient stake in its business in the United States to satisfy the country's divest-or-ban policy to continue doing business there.
The agreement was confirmed through a memo to its employees from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. The closing date of the transaction set by TikTok is January 22, 2026. A new entity called TikTok US Data Security (USDS) Joint Venture Limited Liability Company (LLC) will be created to oversee its US business in line with the proposed agreement.
Additionally, the memo states that the ownership in the new joint venture will be shared by the new investors from America, the existing investors of ByteDance, and ByteDance itself.
The new group of investors will own 50%, including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, who will each own 15%. The affiliates of the existing investors in ByteDance will own 30.1%, and the remaining 19.9% will be owned by ByteDance.
The decision comes after a turbulent period for the company. The app briefly went dark in the US in January after failing to comply with previous divestment deadlines. US President Donald Trump subsequently granted several extensions.
The US-China framework agreement reached in September led to yet another deadline that expired on December 16. The new agreement is expected to meet the requirements for an executive order issued on the 25th of September 2025.
TikTok said the US joint venture will be governed by a seven-member board, with a majority of American directors. The entity will control data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance.
US user data will be stored on Oracle’s US-based cloud infrastructure, and the recommendation algorithm will be retrained using US data to prevent external influence.
After closing, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will operate independently, while global TikTok teams will continue handling advertising, e-commerce, and marketing. The company said the changes will not affect advertisers or its more than 170 million US users.
