TikTok US Deal: Who Owns It Now?

The future of TikTok in the United States has been formally established through a newly closed joint venture agreement. This strategic move brings together a powerful consortium of investors to oversee the platform's US operations, addressing long-standing national security concerns.

The deal structures ownership among three major managing investors, a retained stake by the parent company, and a broader consortium of new backers. The primary goal is to secure US user data and ensure content moderation remains independent, while key commercial functions stay under ByteDance's control.

The newly established TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC represents a significant shift in the platform's American operations. The ownership is divided among three primary groups, creating a complex but deliberate capital structure designed to comply with regulatory demands.

Three managing investors will each hold a 15% stake in the new venture:

• Oracle, the software giant
• Silver Lake, a tech-focused private equity firm
• MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based state-owned investment firm

Together, these three entities control 45% of the joint venture. ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, will maintain a 19.9% ownership stake. This figure is not arbitrary; it represents the maximum minority stake permitted by the divest-or-ban law that catalyzed this sale.

The remaining 35.1% will be controlled by a consortium of other investors. This group includes affiliates of existing ByteDance investors and several high-profile individuals. Notably, the family office of Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies, is among the new investors acquiring a piece of TikTok US.

A seven-person board of directors will govern the new joint venture, ensuring representation from all major stakeholders. Shou Chew, TikTok's global CEO, will hold a seat, maintaining a direct line to the platform's leadership. Representatives from Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX will also join the board.

Operational leadership will fall to Adam Presser, a TikTok trust and safety executive, who will serve as CEO of the new US entity. This appointment signals the venture's focus on security and content governance.

The three managing investors bring distinct expertise to the table:

• Oracle has a pre-existing relationship with TikTok, having stored US user data for years and serving as its "trusted security partner."
• Silver Lake brings deep experience in tech investments, with a portfolio that includes companies like Klarna, Carta, and Waymo.
• MGX, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, focuses on artificial intelligence and participated in OpenAI's $6.6 billion funding round in 2024.

Beyond the three managing investors, the broader consortium includes seven other entities. These range from Vastmere Strategic Investments (an affiliate of ByteDance investor Susquehanna International Group) to Revolution, the investment firm where Vice President JD Vance previously worked. Other participants include Merritt Way, LLC (affiliated with Dragoneer), Via Nova (linked to General Atlantic), and Virgo LI, Inc. (the investment arm of Yuri and Julia Milner's foundation).

The primary objective of this new structure is to fortify US user data security, trust, and safety protocols. The joint venture's safeguards will extend beyond TikTok to cover other apps in its portfolio, including CapCut and Lemon8.

A critical component of the security plan involves the platform's core technology. According to a December memo, the new US owners will retrain the content recommendation algorithm using US user data. This step is intended to "ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation."

While the joint venture announcement did not specify a valuation, the Trump administration indicated in September that the entity is worth approximately $14 billion.

The safeguards provided by the joint venture will also cover CapCut, and Lemon8, and a portfolio of other apps and websites in the US.

Despite the significant dilution of its ownership, ByteDance will continue to play a vital role in TikTok's commercial success. The company will retain control over key business lines, including TikTok Shop, advertising, and marketing.

This division of labor means that while the new joint venture handles data security and content moderation, ByteDance remains responsible for the platform's revenue-generating activities. The company began restructuring its US workforce in January, splitting employees into entities aligned with either ByteDance or the new USDS joint venture.

The deal effectively creates a firewall between the platform's operational governance and its commercial engine, a structure designed to satisfy both regulatory requirements and business continuity.

The formation of this joint venture marks a definitive chapter in TikTok's US saga, transforming it from a foreign-owned entity into a complex American-led consortium. The involvement of Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX provides a powerful backing that blends technological expertise, financial acumen, and international investment.

As the new board convenes and Adam Presser assumes leadership of the US operations, the focus will shift to implementation. Retraining the algorithm and fortifying data infrastructure will be immediate priorities. For users, the experience may remain largely unchanged on the surface, but behind the scenes, a new corporate architecture is now in place, built to navigate the intersection of technology, commerce, and national security.