TikTok agrees to deal to cede control of U.S. business to American investor group
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TikTok has reached a deal to cede a substantial portion of its U.S. operation to a group of American investors, thus ending a years-long tussle in which the federal government has sought to force the platform to do just that. The new partnership is described as a “new TikTok U.S. joint venture” in an internal memo from ByteDance CEO Shou Chew, which was viewed by TechCrunch. That arrangement will see major American investors take over significant control of the U.S.-based business. The newly formed investor group includes cloud giant Oracle, the tech-focused private equity firm Silverlake, and MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm focused on AI. Together, those companies will own 45 percent of the U.S. operation, while ByteDance retains a nearly 20 percent share, the memo states. The new entity formed by this partnership has been dubbed “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.” That new entity will be responsible for overseeing the app, including data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance, the memo states. “A trusted security partner will be responsible for auditing and validating compliance with the agreed upon National Security Terms, and Oracle will be the trusted security partner upon completion of the transaction,” the document says. The closing date for the deal is listed as January 22nd, 2026. The news was originally reported by Axios. Much of the deal, as it has been described in the memo, parallels the language in an executive order passed by President Trump in September. That memo similarly approved the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American investor group. CNBC previously reported that Oracle, Silverlake, and MGX, would be the primary investors in the deal. Until now, ByteDance had not divulged details of such a deal, except to say that it would abide by U.S. law to ensure that TikTok remained available to U.S. users. The U.S. government has long sought to cleave TikTok’s U.S.-based business away from its Chinese parent company, espousing national security concerns as the rationale. Techcrunch event Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector. Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector. San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026 WAITLIST NOW Topics bytedance, Donald Trump, oracle, Social, social media, TikTok Lucas Ropek Senior Writer, TechCrunch Lucas is a senior writer at TechCrunch, where he covers artificial intelligence, consumer tech, and startups. He previously covered AI and cybersecurity at Gizmodo. You can contact Lucas by emailing lucas.ropek@techcrunch.com.
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