A significant stake of TikTok in its US operations will be sold to comply with the country’s divest-or-ban law. This means that the platform will continue operating in the United States.
The deal was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Axios, and CNBC. It was finally confirmed in a memo sent by CEO Shou Zi Chew to employees on Thursday. TikTok is already targeting the transaction closing date. It will be January 22, 2026.
The agreement will lead to the creation of a new entity called TikTok USDS Venture LLC. The ownership of this new entity will be controlled by existing ByteDance investors, ByteDance, and new American investors.
The memo suggests the US joint venture will be held by a consortium of new investors for up to 50 percent. The investors include Silver Lake, Oracle, and MGX. Each will be taking a 15% stake.
The investors who are already in ByteDance will hold 30.1 percent. ByteDance itself will retain 19.9 percent of ownership.
When TikTok failed to meet the earlier divestment requirements, it briefly went offline in the United States. Later, TikTok was granted extensions by Donald Trump to finalize a deal.
After the transaction, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will be functioning as an independent entity. It will be built on the existing TikTok US Data Security organization. It will have exclusive authority to provide assurances for US user data, software, and content.
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