TikTok agrees to transfer control of US operations to US investor group | TechCrunch

TikTok has reached a deal to offload a substantial portion of its U.S. operations to a group of American investors, ending a years-long battle in which the federal government has tried to force the platform to do so.

The new partnership is described as a “new US TikTok joint venture” in an internal memo from ByteDance CEO Shou Chew, which was viewed by TechCrunch.

This arrangement will see major US investors take significant control of the US-based company. The newly formed investor group includes cloud giant Oracle, technology-focused private equity firm Silverlake, and MGX, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm focused on AI. Together, these companies will own 45% of the U.S. business, with ByteDance retaining a nearly 20% share, the memo said. The new entity formed by this partnership has been named “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC”.

That new entity will be responsible for the oversight of the app, including data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance, the memo said. “A trusted security partner will be responsible for verifying and validating compliance with the agreed national security terms, and Oracle will be the trusted security partner upon completion of the transaction,” the document said.

The closing date for the deal is January 22, 2026. The news was originally reported by Axios.

Much of the deal, as described in the memo, parallels language in an executive order signed by President Trump in September. That memo similarly approved the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a U.S. investor group. CNBC previously reported that Oracle, Silverlake and MGX would be the major investors in the deal. Until now, ByteDance had not disclosed details of such a deal. except to say that it would adhere to US law to ensure TikTok remained available to US users.

The US government has long sought to separate TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese parent company. concerns about national security as the reason.