TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the US for years over concerns about possible access to user data by the Chinese government.
On Thursday January 22, 2026 TikTok announced that the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was officially formed to comply with President Trump’s executive order approving the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a U.S. investor group. Now ByteDance will own less than 20% of the new entity, with the rest falling into non-Chinese hands.
Over the years, US users have often found themselves in the middle of this tension, dealing with uncertainty about how their access to the app would change. For creators using TikTok to make a living, the stakes were even higher. Last year, the app experienced a temporary outage in the US, leaving millions of users in suspense before it was quickly restored. TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store on February 2, 2025.
A number of investors competed for the app, and after President Trump extended the deadline for the TikTok ban for the fourth time, the battle finally ended. In December 2025, TikTok officially signed a deal to divest part of its US entity to a group of US investors.
Earlier in 2025, President Trump had announced that President Xi Jinping of China had approved a TikTok deal, which would give a consortium of American investors control of the platform. ByteDance publicly stated that it would ensure the platform remains available to US users.
Who owns TikTok in the US?
ByteDance will retain a nearly 20% stake in the company, while non-Chinese investors will own the remaining 80% ownership of the company. TikTok USDS Joint Venture.
The managing investor group consists of Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake and investment firm MGX. These three investors will each own 15% of the US operation, or collectively 45%.
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Other investors, including existing ByteDance investors, represent another 35% of the company’s ownership. This includes the Dell Family Office (Michael Dell’s investment firm), Susquehanna affiliate Vastmere, Alpha Wave Partners and several others, listed in TikTok’s press release.
Reports estimation that TikTok US is valued at around $14 billion – a figure also mentioned by Vice President JD Vance.
The newly formed “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC” will oversee the app’s operations, including data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance.
Oracle will serve as the trusted security partner, responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with national security requirements, according to a memo. The company already provides cloud services for TikTok and manages user data in the US. Oracle in particular already made an offer for TikTok in 2020.
A White House official previously said that Oracle would replicate and secure a new US version of the algorithm, and that the US-based TikTok owners could lease the algorithm from ByteDance, which Oracle will then retrain.
ByteDance has no access to information about TikTok’s American users or any influence over the American algorithm.
How will TikTok change for US users?
Because the deal has only just been completed, it is not clear exactly how TikTok’s 200 million American users will be affected.
While before reports suggested that US users may need to switch to a new platform, more recent reports have denied this claim and assured users that they do not need to download a new app.
It’s also unclear what impact users’ algorithmic feeds will have at this point.
How did we get here?
To fully understand this high-stakes drama, let’s first take a look at the timeline of TikTok’s tumultuous relationship with the US government, which resulted in several legal battles and negotiations.
The drama first started in August 2020, when Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with parent company ByteDance.
A month later, the Trump administration attempted to force a sale of TikTok’s US operations to a US-based company. The top contenders included Microsoft, Oracle and Walmart. However, a US judge temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order, allowing TikTok to continue operating while the legal battle played out.
After the transition to the Biden administration, things started to evolve even further. After the Senate passed the anti-TikTok bill, President Joe Biden signed it.
In response, TikTok sued the US government, questioning the constitutionality of the ban and arguing that it violated the rights of the app and its US users. The company has consistently denied that it poses a security risk and claims that its data stored in the US complies with all local laws.
Fast forward to 2024: Trump changed his mind since his first term and tried to reach a 50-50 ownership deal between ByteDance and an American company.
There were several contenders, including The people’s bid for TikToka consortium organized by Frank McCourt, founder of Project Liberty. This group received the support of investment company Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Supporters included the co-founder of Reddit Alexis OhanianTV personality and investor Kevin O’Learyinventor of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee, and senior researcher David Clark.
Another group called the American Investor Consortium was led by Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley and co-founder of Roblox David BaszuckiNathan McCauley, co-founder of Anchorage Digital, and famous YouTuber MrBeast.
Others in the running included Amazon, AppLovin,Microsoft, Bafflement AI, ClutterWalmart, Zoop, former CEO of Activision Bobby Kotickand former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The story was updated after publication.
