The United States and China reached an agreement on Thursday regarding a U.S. spinoff of TikTok. This deal allows the popular video app to keep operating in the U.S. while addressing worries linked to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, as confirmed by a White House official.
The new U.S. joint venture, which primarily includes American investors led by Oracle and Silver Lake, was introduced last month. TikTok CEO Hsu Chiu shared this news in an internal memo, stating that they had formed a new entity to tackle U.S. lawmakers’ concerns. These concerns primarily revolve around the potential for the Chinese government to manipulate ByteDance for propaganda or access to data from 170 million U.S. users.
According to the agreement, ByteDance will own nearly 20% of this new U.S. entity, while Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX will collectively hold 15% of the shares.
The January 22 closing date was established following President Trump’s signing of an executive order in September. This order postponed the enforcement of a 2024 law that required ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a ban. This bipartisan legislation, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Control Applications Act, restricts social media apps connected to hostile foreign governments, like China, from U.S. app stores. Despite facing a Supreme Court challenge, the law took effect in January 2025, although Trump extended its implementation while seeking a deal.
At an event where Trump announced the executive order, Vice President J.D. Vance mentioned the deal valued TikTok’s U.S. operations at about $14 billion. He emphasized that protecting Americans’ data security was the top priority and expressed the importance of keeping TikTok available to users. Vance reiterated that the agreement guarantees significant control over the algorithms to U.S. entities and investors, which helps prevent foreign government propaganda.
