ByteDance sets TikTok U.S. joint venture with Oracle in lead

ByteDance signed binding agreements to form TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, transferring 80.1% control of the app’s U.S. operations to investors led by Oracle, alongside Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. The agreement follows efforts dating to August 2020 to resolve U.S. national security concerns and is slated to close Jan. 22.

ByteDance will retain a 19.9% stake. The new U.S. entity will operate the domestic version of TikTok for more than 170 million users. The structure is intended to comply with a 2024 law that would bar the app unless its Chinese owners divest U.S. operations, and enforcement was pushed to Jan. 20 by President Donald Trump, who in September declared the agreement meets the law’s divestiture terms.

In September, Vice President JD Vance put the new company’s value at about $14 billion. The final valuation was not released.

Governance will include a seven-member board. ByteDance will appoint one director, with Americans holding a majority of the remaining seats. Oracle will act as the ‘trusted security partner,’ auditing compliance and safeguarding U.S. user data in a U.S.-based cloud run by Oracle, according to a company memo.

In a memo to staff, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew wrote that the joint venture will “operate as an independent entity with authority over U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance.” He added that TikTok Global’s U.S. entities will separately handle global product interoperability and certain commercial functions, including e-commerce, advertising and marketing.

Questions remain over technology ownership and ongoing links to ByteDance. Rush Doshi, a former National Security Council official under President Joe Biden, questioned whether the recommendation algorithm has been transferred, licensed or remains controlled in China, with Oracle providing ‘monitoring.’

The White House previously indicated the joint venture would operate TikTok’s U.S. app and referred detailed questions to TikTok. Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, has signaled plans to bring the new entity’s leadership to a hearing in 2026.

The transaction has drawn political scrutiny. On X, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote, “Trump wants to hand over even more control of what you watch to his billionaire buddies. Americans deserve to know if the president struck another backdoor deal for this billionaire takeover of TikTok.” 

Trump has a long-standing relationship with Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison. In September, Trump indicated that Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch, along with other prominent investors, would participate in the venture, though it was not clear whether they joined the final agreement.