TikTok finalizes majority American-owned joint venture to avert U.S. ban

TikTok announced on Thursday that it has finalized a landmark deal to launch a majority-American-owned joint venture, a move aimed at avoiding a potential US ban on the popular social media app.

The deal marks a major milestone for TikTok, and comes after years of legal and political battles that began in 2020, when President Donald Trump raised national security concerns about the Chinese-owned platform.

Joint Venture LLC, built on TikTok’s US Data Security (USDS) foundation, will work to meet US regulatory requirements set by Trump’s executive order on September 25 last year, allowing millions of US users and businesses to continue operating on the platform.

“I’m so glad I helped save TikTok! It will now be owned by a group of great American patriots and investors, the largest in the world, and you will be an important voice,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Thursday.

TIKTOK reaches agreements on new US joint venture with closing scheduled for 2026

“Today, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was created pursuant to the Executive Order signed by President Trump on September 25, 2025, now enabling more than 200 million Americans and 7.5 million businesses to continue discovering, creating, and thriving as part of TikTok’s vibrant global community and experience,” the company added.

TikTok’s sister apps, such as CapCut and Lemon8, will also be subject to the joint venture’s supervision in the United States, the company added.

Under the TikTok agreement, US entities will hold an 80.1% stake in the new joint venture, with original parent ByteDance retaining a 19.9% ​​stake.

Three companies, including cloud computing giant Oracle, private equity group Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, will act as managing investors, each holding a 15% stake.

Trump signs an executive order allowing the TikTok deal to continue

President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, June 1, 2020, in Washington. ((AP Photo/Patrick Szymanski))

The company said that the project will create a local cloud environment under Oracle, with strong data privacy and cybersecurity measures, to secure user data, applications and algorithms in the United States.

“The content recommendation algorithm will be secured in the US Oracle cloud environment,” the company said.

Signs are displayed on a building at Oracle Corp’s headquarters. In Redwood City, California, United States, on Monday, March 14, 2016. (Michael Short/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

The new entity is managed by a seven-member board of directors, the majority of whom are American, including representatives of major investment firms and technology companies.

Adam Presser has been appointed CEO of the new joint venture. Other corporate representatives on the board include TikTok CEO Xu Qiu, Oracle’s Kenneth Glick, Silver Lake’s Egon Durban, and MGX’s David Scott.

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The joint venture will be designed to ensure US users retain the “global TikTok experience,” allowing creators to be discovered around the world while allowing US entities to continue to run businesses such as e-commerce, advertising and marketing.