USA – ByteDance-owned TikTok has signed an agreement to divest its US assets and establish a new entity backed by mostly American investors, CEO Shou Chew said in an internal memo seen by media on December 18, as the transaction moves toward completion.
According to CNN, the deal, backed by former President Donald Trump, will place control of the US TikTok app under a new joint venture. Fifty per cent of the venture will be owned by a consortium of investors, including tech company Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Emirati-backed investment firm MGX.
The memo said just over 30% of the joint venture will be held by “affiliates of certain existing investors in ByteDance”, while 19.9% will remain with ByteDance.
Chew added that more work is needed before the deal is finalised, but the parties are moving toward a close by January 22, 2026. Both ByteDance and TikTok have agreed to the terms, he said.
“We have signed agreements with investors regarding a new TikTok U.S. joint venture, enabling over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities as part of a vital global community,” Chew said in the memo, obtained by CNN and other media outlets.
The new US entity will retrain TikTok’s algorithm on American user data, with Oracle overseeing the storage of that data, as previously outlined by White House officials. The US joint venture will also handle content moderation for US users. Chew’s memo indicates that the ByteDance-controlled global TikTok will continue managing e-commerce, advertising, and marketing for the US platform.
However, CNN noted that regulatory approval from both countries is also needed. This means that the deal requires approval from the Chinese government before it can close.
The entity will operate under the name TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, according to CNBC.
The US first banned TikTok on January 19, 2025. Last spring, Congress passed legislation with bipartisan support giving TikTok a 270-day window to sever ties with China-based parent ByteDance or face a ban. TikTok challenged the law in court on First Amendment grounds but was unsuccessful, with the Supreme Court ruling against the company last Friday, ABC News reported.
In September, Trump signed an executive order approving a proposed deal to keep TikTok operational in the US by complying with the law originally signed under President Joe Biden, CNBC reported.
Separately, in 2023 TikTok shut down its TikTok Shop operations in Indonesia after the government introduced regulations prohibiting social media-based e-commerce, citing concerns over pricing abuses by sellers. TikTok later returned to the market through a US$1.5 billion investment in GoTo, combining Tokopedia and TikTok Shop Indonesia under the existing PT Tokopedia entity.
