tiktokOwned by the Chinese company ByteDance, it has been at the center of controversy in the US for years because user data could potentially be accessed by the Chinese government.

Thursday, January 22, 2026, TikTok announcement That TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was officially established to comply with President Trump executive order which approved the sale of TikTok’s US operations to an American investor group. Now, ByteDance will own less than 20% of the new entity, with the rest going to non-Chinese ownership.

Over the years, US users have often found themselves caught in the middle of this tension, facing uncertainty about how their access to the app will change — for the creator People who use TikTok make a livingThe stakes were even higher. Last year, the app suffered a temporary outage in the US that left millions of users in suspense before quickly recovering. TikTok is back on the App Store and Google Play Store On February 2, 2025.

Many investors raced to buy the app, and after President Trump extended the TikTok ban for the fourth time, the battle finally came to an end. In December 2025TikTok has officially signed a deal to divest a portion of its US entity to a group of American investors

Before that there was President Trump in 2025 announcement That Chinese President Xi Jinping has approved a TikTok deal, which would allow a consortium of US investors to control the platform. ByteDance has publicly stated that it will ensure that the platform remains available to American users.

Who owns TikTok in the United States?

ByteDance will retain an approximately 20% stake in the company, while non-Chinese investors will retain the remaining 80% ownership of the company. TikTok USDS joint venture.

The managing investor group consists of Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake and investment firm MGX. These three investors will each own 15% of the US operations, or 45% collectively.

Other investors, including existing ByteDance investors, make up another 35% of the venture’s ownership. These include Dell Family Office (Michael Dell’s investment firm), Susquehanna affiliate Vastmeyer, Alpha Wave Partners and many others, which are listed TikTok press release.

Report guess That TikTok US is worth about $14 billion — a figure Vice President JD Vance also cited.

The newly formed “TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC” will oversee the app’s operations, including data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance.

Oracle will act as a trusted security partner, responsible for auditing and ensuring compliance with national security regulations, according to a memo. Notably, Oracle previously made a bid for TikTok in 2020, as the company already provides cloud services for TikTok and manages user data in the US.

A White House official previously said that Oracle would replicate and secure a new US version of the algorithm, and US-based TikTok owners could lease the algorithm from ByteDance, which Oracle would retrain.

ByteDance will not have access to information about TikTok’s US users or influence US algorithms.

How will TikTok change for US users?

Since the deal has only just been finalized, it’s not exactly clear how the 200 million American TikTok users will be affected.

before when Report Suggest that US users may need to migrate to a new platform, More recent reports denied the claim, assuring users that they would not need to download a new app.

It’s also unclear how users’ algorithmic feeds will be affected at this time

How do we get here?

To fully understand this high-stakes drama, we’ll first revisit the timeline of TikTok’s tumultuous relationship with the US government, which has led to various legal battles and negotiations.

The play first started in 1948 August 2020When Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with parent company ByteDance.

A month later, the Trump administration tried to force the sale of TikTok’s US operations to a US-based company. Top competitors included Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart. However, temporarily a judge of the United States blocked Trump’s executive order allows TikTok to continue operating while the legal battle rages.

Things began to progress further after the transition to the Biden administration. after The Senate Bill passed against TikTok President Joe Biden Sign it.

in response, TikTok sued the US governmentchallenges the constitutionality of the ban and argues that the app and its American users are violating their First Amendment rights. The company has consistently denied that it poses a security threat, insisting that its data stored in the US complies with all local laws.

Fast-forward to 2024: Trump He had a change of heart from his first term and tried to achieve a 50-50 ownership arrangement between ByteDance and a US company.

There were several competitors People’s Bid for TikTokProject Liberty is a consortium organized by founders Frank McCourt. The group was backed by investment firm Guggenheim Securities and law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Backers include Reddit co-founders Alexis OhanianTV personality and investor Kevin O’LearyWorld Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, and senior research scientist David Clarke.

He headed another group called the American Investor Consortium employer.com the founder Jesse Tinsley and includes Roblox co-founders David BaszukiAnchorage Digital co-founder Nathan McCauley, and famous YouTuber Mr. Beast.

Others are included in the race the amazon, Aplovin, Microsoft, Confusion AI, RumbleWalmart, Zoop, former Activision CEO Bobby Kotickand former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Story updated after publication.