The joint venture set to acquire TikTok’s US assets has been formally established, and the company announced its leadership just one day ahead of the deadline President Donald Trump had set for the divestiture of the application’s US operations from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
The finalization of this agreement concludes years of effort aimed at securing a long-term future for TikTok within the US and addressing concerns that it posed a national security risk.
“The joint venture, majority-owned by Americans, will operate under specific national security safeguards through comprehensive data protection, algorithmic security, content moderation, and software assurances for US users,” the group stated in a release on Thursday.
Adam Presser, who previously led TikTok’s efforts to secure US user data within the country, will serve as the CEO of the joint venture, with Will Farrell leading as Chief Security Officer, having overseen privacy and security matters.
The entity will be governed by a board of directors that includes TikTok US CEO Shou Chew, Kenneth Glueck, Executive Vice President in the Oracle CEO’s office, as well as representatives from the investment firm Susquehanna International Group, private equity firm Silver Lake, and the Emirati investment company MGX, among others.
US President Donald Trump extended thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping for “cooperating with us and ultimately approving the deal.”
“He could have gone a different way, but he didn’t, and his decision is appreciated,” Trump noted in a post on Truth Social.
The final deal structure was not directly addressed by the Chinese government. CNN has reached out to China’s Ministry of Commerce for comment.
Trump also expressed that he was “very happy to help save TikTok” and gave credit to members of his administration who brought the transaction to a “very dramatic, ultimate and beautiful conclusion.”
The TikTok saga in America began when Trump, during his first term, pledged to ban the application. This escalated in 2024 when then-President Joe Biden signed legislation mandating the separation of the US version of the app from parent company ByteDance or face a ban in the United States. During his second term, Trump repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law, aiming instead for a deal to transfer control over the app’s American activities.
When Trump initially gave his approval for the deal last autumn, he set a deadline of January 23rd for the parties to finalize the transaction. TikTok signed off on the agreement last month.
This deal is likely welcome news for TikTok’s more than 200 million American users, many of whom rely on the app for entertainment, news, and, in some cases, their livelihood.
The agreement transfers control over TikTok’s US user data and most US operations to the new joint venture, with 50% ownership going to an investor consortium comprising tech company Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and UAE-backed investment firm MGX. Just over 30% of the joint venture will be held by “affiliates of certain existing ByteDance investors,” while 19.9% will remain with ByteDance, according to a memo Chew sent to staff last month.
The new organization intends to retrain the TikTok algorithm using US user data, with Oracle overseeing the storage of American data. The US joint venture will also be responsible for content moderation for its American user base. However, according to Chew’s memo, the global, ByteDance-controlled TikTok entity will continue to manage e-commerce, advertising, and marketing for the new US platform.
This suggests that the experience for American users within the app is unlikely to change dramatically, although the algorithm that dictates which videos appear in their feeds might shift once the new ownership group takes command.
Last year, Trump referred to the deal as a “qualified divestiture” under the “sell it or ban it” law. Nevertheless, questions remain as to whether this structure fully resolves the core national security issues that motivated US lawmakers to pass the legislation on a bipartisan basis.
American officials had feared that ByteDance might be compelled to manipulate the algorithm on behalf of the Chinese government to influence or sow discord among Americans. The TikTok divestiture law specifically prohibited “any collaboration on the content recommendation algorithm’s operation” between ByteDance and the new potential US ownership group.
“The compatibility allows the joint venture to deliver the global TikTok experience to American users while ensuring the ability for American creators to be discovered and businesses to operate on a global scale,” the joint venture stated in its release.
Under the agreement reached on Thursday, the new joint venture will continue to license the TikTok algorithm from ByteDance before retraining and revising it.
Whether Beijing would approve the arrangement also remained uncertain until its conclusion. TikTok had become leverage in broader trade negotiations between the US and China; an earlier version of the deal fell apart last year after Trump announced a new round of tariffs.
Last month, He Yongqian, a ministry spokesperson, reiterated that Beijing and Washington had achieved a baseline consensus on resolving issues related to TikTok and trade.
“The Chinese government hopes that enterprises will arrive at solutions that comply with Chinese laws and regulations and reflect a balance of interests,” he said at a press conference.
“China hopes that the US side will work in the same direction as China, conscientiously fulfill its commitments, and ensure a fair, open, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for the stable operation of Chinese enterprises in the US.”
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