The Associated Press reported Friday (December 19), citing an internal memo from ByteDance CEO Shou Zi Chew, that TikTok’s parent has signed binding agreements with a consortium of investors to form a new joint venture for the app’s US business.
The agreement with Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX is reportedly set to close on January 22, allowing the app to continue running in the US.
TikTok plans to retrain its recommendation algorithm exclusively using US user data as part of the joint venture.
Chew wrote in the memo to staff obtained by the AP: “I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued dedication and tireless work. Your efforts keep us operating at the highest level and will ensure that TikTok continues to grow and thrive in the US and around the world.
“With these agreements in place, our focus must stay where it’s always been—firmly on delivering for our users, creators, businesses and the global TikTok community.”
Under the structure, the three investors will each hold 15% stakes in the new US entity, while ByteDance will retain 19.9% ownership, with another 30.1% going to affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, the AP said, citing the memo.
Separately, Business Insider reported that an additional 5% will be held by other unnamed investors, bringing outside ownership to 50%.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued dedication and tireless work. Your efforts keep us operating at the highest level and will ensure that TikTok continues to grow and thrive in the US and around the world.”
Shou Zi Chew, ByteDance
The reported memo confirms earlier reports that a group of investors including Oracle and Silver Lake would hold a combined 50% stake in TikTok US to appease the Trump administration.
Under the “divest-or-ban” law passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress and signed by then-President Joe Biden, TikTok is required to sell its US operations or face an effective ban on operating in the US. The law’s original deadline was in January of this year, forcing the app offline briefly for American users. TikTok has about 170 million users in the US.
Trump brought the app back online during his opening days in office, granting a 75-day pause to let potential American buyers put together offers.
When talks stalled, Trump pushed the deadline back (after pushing it back multiple times) to December 16, and ordered the Department of Justice not to enforce the law until January 23, 2026, in order to give time for the deal to be finalized.
Financial terms of the deal with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX were not disclosed. In September, US Vice President JD Vance said the proposed transaction would value TikTok’s US operations at “around $14 billion.” Reuters noted at the time that the price tag is “far below some analyst estimates”. In June, Morningstar analysts predicted that a deal for TikTok’s US business would be “north of $50 billion.”
Shares of Oracle rose nearly 7% in NYSE trading on Friday following the reports.
The AP said a seven-member board with an American majority will lead the new US venture. User data will be stored domestically in Oracle-run systems, the report said. The company plans to retrain its recommendation algorithm using only US user data to “ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation,” the AP said, citing the memo.
The algorithm has been central to concerns raised by US lawmakers, who have warned that Chinese authorities could exploit it to shape content distribution. In late 2022, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship, and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act, also called the ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act, to protect Americans from algorithmic manipulation.
Meanwhile, the new venture will also oversee content moderation and policies within the US, the report said.
Chew added in the memo: “Advertisers will continue to connect with global audiences with no impact,” according to Business Insider.
This agreement concludes years of regulatory pressure on TikTok, keeping ByteDance involved in its US operations while addressing lawmakers’ demands for reduced Chinese control over the app.
Effective December 1, TikTok appointed Ziad Ojakli as head of public policy for the Americas, a veteran government affairs executive. He replaced Michael Beckerman, who spent more than five years steering TikTok‘s policy response to mounting political pressure and announced his departure in April. Beckerman will then transition to a global advisory position.
Before joining TikTok, Ojakli held senior government affairs positions at Ford, SoftBank and Boeing, and served in the George W. Bush administration.
The developments also mark a sigh of relief for ByteDance, whose valuation jumped to $480 billion in a transaction in late November, more than doubling from the $230 billion reported in September last year.
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