TikTok has finalized an agreement to establish a majority American-owned joint venture, resolving years of political and legal disputes over the app.
The move aims to safeguard user data, secure the platform’s algorithm, and maintain content moderation under a framework designed to meet U.S. national security requirements. The joint venture, structured under the TikTok U.S. Data Security (USDS) organization, will operate independently with a board that consists mostly of American executives.
The company confirmed that ByteDance will retain a minority stake of 19.9%, while Silver Lake, Oracle, and MGX each hold 15%, alongside several other investment firms. While financial terms were not disclosed to the public, TikTok reported that more than 200 million Americans and 7.5 million U.S. businesses remain active on the platform.
This agreement closes a chapter that began during President Donald Trump’s first term, when the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) launched a review of ByteDance’s ownership. Subsequent legal battles and legislation under former President Joe Biden sought to force either a U.S. sale or the app would be banned. TikTok challenged the ban, but the Supreme Court stood firm and gave the company a deadline that fell on the day of Trump’s second term.
However, the current president paid the Supreme Court no mind. He let TikTok continue its operations as usual as he began to pursue the agreement that was recently confirmed.
The deal represents the culmination of a long political and legal fight that spanned multiple administrations. In 2024, Congress passed a law signed by Biden targeting apps like TikTok owned by companies linked to foreign adversaries and requiring ByteDance to reduce U.S. operations or face a ban, due to concerns about data security and foreign influence.
After TikTok briefly became unavailable in early 2025, Trump, in his second term, delayed the enforcement of the ban and continued negotiations with ByteDance and U.S. stakeholders, ultimately helping broker the joint‑venture deal to allow TikTok to operate with a majority American ownership structure.
