Overview
- ByteDance and selected investors signed an agreement to create TikTok USDS Joint-Venture LLC to independently oversee U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and compliance.
- Ownership will be 45% split equally among Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, 30.1% held by existing ByteDance investors and 19.9% retained by ByteDance.
- TikTok will retain control of U.S. commercial functions such as advertising and e-commerce as well as the app’s global interoperability, separate from the new entity’s safeguards remit.
- Governance is set for a seven-member board with a U.S. majority, in line with a September decree signed by President Donald Trump.
- The agreement faces regulatory reviews and congressional scrutiny, with Axios reporting a potential Jan. 22 closing subject to approvals, and TikTok contends with a €530 million EU fine and a French judicial inquiry.