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TikTok announced on Thursday that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with investors, enabling the company to continue its operations in the United States and circumvent the threat of a ban linked to its Chinese ownership, according to US media reports.
Citing an internal memo referenced by Bloomberg and Axios, TikTok CEO Shou Chew informed employees that both TikTok and its parent company ByteDance had agreed to establish a new entity. Key investors include Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX.
Larry Ellison, Oracle’s executive chairman and founder, is known to be a long-time supporter of US President Donald Trump.
Chew explained that one-third of the US venture will be owned by existing ByteDance investors, with approximately 20% retained by ByteDance itself—aligning with legal restrictions on Chinese ownership under current law.
This new structure comes in response to legislation enacted under former President Trump’s administration, which mandated ByteDance either sell off TikTok’s US operations or face a ban in its largest market.
US officials, including Trump during his presidency, have expressed concerns that China could leverage TikTok to harvest American data or influence users via its sophisticated algorithms.
Although Trump repeatedly postponed strict enforcement of these orders, most recently extending the deadline to January, the deal aligns with an earlier White House announcement from September stating that a new venture had been arranged with Chinese authorities to comply with the 2024 law.
Chew stated in the memo that “upon closing, the US joint venture will operate as an independent entity with control over US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance,” as reported by Bloomberg.
In addition, “TikTok Global’s US entities will oversee global product interoperability and certain commercial activities, including e-commerce, advertising, and marketing,” he added.
It remains unclear whether this unit will remain fully owned by ByteDance, as the memo did not specify.
This announcement marks the first indication that TikTok has finalized the deal initially disclosed by the Trump administration, which would also require approval from the Chinese government.
Trump had previously highlighted Oracle CEO Larry Ellison as a key participant in this arrangement.
Ellison has gained renewed prominence due to his collaborations with Trump on major AI initiatives, including partnerships with OpenAI. He also financed his son David’s recent acquisition of Paramount and has been involved in his son’s competition with Netflix to acquire Warner Bros.