TikTok has agreed to divest its U.S. operations into a joint venture controlled by American investors, resolving a yearslong push to separate the platform from its Chinese parent, ByteDance, over national security concerns, according to an internal memo seen by Axios.
The new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, is set to close on Jan. 22. Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX will collectively hold 45 percent, affiliates of existing ByteDance investors nearly one-third, and ByteDance will retain just under 20 percent.
The U.S. venture will manage U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance, including retraining the recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data to prevent outside manipulation. Oracle will act as the trusted security partner, auditing compliance with national security terms. TikTok’s global operations will continue handling commercial functions such as advertising, marketing, and e-commerce.
A source confirmed the U.S. operations are valued at roughly $14 billion.
