The TikTok saga in the US might finally have an exit strategy. According to an internal memo from ByteDance boss Shou Zi Chew, the parent company has locked down binding deals with a specific investor group to create a new American joint venture. Partners in this consortium are Oracle, the investment firm Silver Lake, and MGX from Abu Dhabi. The whole setup is supposed to be finalized soon, aiming to let the app keep functioning stateside.
Under this planned structure, ByteDance itself would keep a minority stake. Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX would each grab fifteen percent of the new US entity. Other existing ByteDance investor affiliates would get another chunk, bringing outside ownership to exactly fifty percent when some other unnamed investors are counted. This move directly answers the law that demanded a sale or face a ban, a rule pushed by a bipartisan Congress and signed by President Biden. To address national security gripes, the app's infamous recommendation algorithm will be retrained using only data from American users. All that data will sit inside Oracle's systems on US soil. A new seven-member board, mostly Americans, will run the joint venture and handle stateside content moderation too.
This deal, if it closes, ends years of intense political pressure. It reportedly values TikTok's US operations way lower than some analysts thought, around a figure mentioned by Vice President JD Vance, not the much higher estimates from other firms. The agreement also means ByteDance avoids a full sale, staying connected to its lucrative American wing. Chew thanked employees in the memo, telling them to keep focusing on users and creators. The company also recently shuffled its policy team, bringing in a veteran named Ziad Ojakli to handle government relations in the Americas.
Under this planned structure, ByteDance itself would keep a minority stake. Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX would each grab fifteen percent of the new US entity. Other existing ByteDance investor affiliates would get another chunk, bringing outside ownership to exactly fifty percent when some other unnamed investors are counted. This move directly answers the law that demanded a sale or face a ban, a rule pushed by a bipartisan Congress and signed by President Biden. To address national security gripes, the app's infamous recommendation algorithm will be retrained using only data from American users. All that data will sit inside Oracle's systems on US soil. A new seven-member board, mostly Americans, will run the joint venture and handle stateside content moderation too.
This deal, if it closes, ends years of intense political pressure. It reportedly values TikTok's US operations way lower than some analysts thought, around a figure mentioned by Vice President JD Vance, not the much higher estimates from other firms. The agreement also means ByteDance avoids a full sale, staying connected to its lucrative American wing. Chew thanked employees in the memo, telling them to keep focusing on users and creators. The company also recently shuffled its policy team, bringing in a veteran named Ziad Ojakli to handle government relations in the Americas.
