After nearly four years of political pressure, legal battles, and national security concerns, TikTok’s long-running standoff with the United States government appears to be nearing a resolution. The short-form video platform, owned by China-based ByteDance, has formally agreed to divest part of its U.S. operations to a consortium of American investors, marking a significant turning point in the saga.

TikTok has remained under intense scrutiny in the U.S. over fears that user data could be accessed by the Chinese government. These concerns placed American users in limbo for years, most notably earlier this year when the app suffered a brief outage in the U.S., sparking widespread uncertainty before service was swiftly restored. By February, TikTok had returned to both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Following repeated deadline extensions of a proposed ban—granted four times by former President Donald Trump—multiple investor groups entered a competitive race to acquire TikTok’s U.S. business. That contest ended last week when TikTok finalized an agreement to sell a portion of its American entity to U.S.-based investors. The deal follows an executive order signed nearly three months ago by President Trump approving the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations.

In the days leading up to the agreement, President Trump disclosed that Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved the framework of the deal, clearing the way for American investors to take operational control of the platform. ByteDance has since publicly stated that TikTok will remain accessible to U.S. users under the new arrangement.

Who Will Own TikTok in the U.S.?
According to an internal memo obtained by TechCrunch, the investor group includes Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and investment firm MGX. Together, they will hold a 45 percent stake in TikTok’s U.S. operations, while ByteDance will retain nearly 20 percent ownership. Axios, which first reported the development, cited sources valuing TikTok’s U.S. business at approximately 14 billion dollars—a figure also referenced by Vice President JD Vance.

Earlier reports from September indicated that a broader “framework” agreement had been reached between the U.S. and China, under which a U.S.-led consortium—then expected to include Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz—would control up to 80 percent of TikTok’s American operations, with the remaining shares held by Chinese stakeholders.

Under the finalized structure, a newly created entity known as TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will manage the platform’s U.S. operations. Its responsibilities will include data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software integrity.

Oracle has been designated as the platform’s trusted security partner. The company will oversee compliance with U.S. national security requirements, audit operations, and safeguard user data. Oracle already provides cloud services for TikTok and manages American user data, and it notably attempted to acquire TikTok during the first round of negotiations in 2020.

A White House official previously confirmed that Oracle will also replicate and secure a U.S.-specific version of TikTok’s algorithm. While the algorithm will be leased from ByteDance, it will be retrained and supervised under U.S. oversight. ByteDance, according to the agreement, will have no access to U.S. user data and no influence over the American version of the algorithm.

The transaction is expected to close on January 22, 2026.

What This Means for U.S. Users
Bloomberg reports that once the deal is finalized, the existing TikTok app may be discontinued in the United States. Users would then be required to migrate to a new platform developed under the restructured ownership. However, details surrounding the new app—including its design, features, and how closely it will resemble the current TikTok experience—remain unclear.

How the TikTok Dispute Unfolded
The controversy dates back to August 2020, when then-President Trump signed an executive order seeking to ban transactions with ByteDance. One month later, his administration moved to force the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American company, with Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart emerging as leading contenders.

Those efforts stalled after a U.S. judge temporarily blocked the executive order, allowing TikTok to continue operating while legal challenges played out. Momentum resumed under the Biden administration, particularly after the U.S. Senate passed legislation targeting TikTok. President Joe Biden later signed the bill into law.
In response, TikTok filed suit against the U.S. government, arguing that the ban violated constitutional protections and infringed on the First Amendment rights of both the company and its American users. Throughout the dispute, TikTok has denied posing a national security threat, maintaining that U.S. user data is stored domestically and handled in compliance with local regulations.

Today, President Trump—now adopting a more conciliatory stance than during his first term—has pushed for a balanced ownership model that would split control between ByteDance and U.S. investors.

Several groups vied for control of the platform. Among them was The People’s Bid for TikTok, organized by Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt, with backing from Guggenheim Securities and Kirkland & Ellis. High-profile supporters included Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, investor Kevin O’Leary, World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, and senior research scientist David Clark.

Another contender, the American Investor Consortium led by Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley, included Roblox co-founder David Baszucki, Anchorage Digital co-founder Nathan McCauley, and popular YouTuber MrBeast.

Other interested parties over the years ranged from Amazon, Microsoft, Walmart, and AppLovin to Perplexity AI, Rumble, Zoop, former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

With the latest agreement in place, TikTok’s uncertain future in the United States appears closer to resolution—though how the platform will ultimately evolve under its new structure remains to be seen.

Source: Techcrunch