After years of political maneuvering and legal battles, TikTok's fate in the United States seems to be...The dust has finally settled.According to information obtained by Bloomberg News and other sourcesPoint outTikTok and its parent company ByteDance have signed an agreement to formally spin off its US operations, which is expected to be completed on January 22, 2026.
How will the equity pie be divided? Oracle and its joint venture partners will take nearly half.
Based on currently disclosed details, TikTok's US business assets will be transferred to a newly established entity with a rather intriguing shareholding structure. Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi MGX will each hold approximately 15% of the shares, collectively controlling nearly 50% of TikTok's US business assets. ByteDance will retain approximately 20% direct shareholding, with the remainder held by its affiliated companies.
This means that although ByteDance is no longer 100% owned, it still retains a certain degree of influence through affiliated companies and direct shareholding.
The data is managed by Oracle, and the board of directors is controlled by Americans.
To allay the U.S. government's concerns about national security, the new company's operational structure is strictly regulated:
• Board of Directors: willA seven-member board of directors will be established to manage the operations of the U.S. platform, with the majority of seats held by Americans.
• Data storage:All data from U.S. users will be stored in systems operated by Oracle, and given Oracle founder Larry Ellison's long-standing friendly relationship with the Trump administration, this arrangement is clearly intended to pass political censorship.
• Business segmentation:The new joint venture (based on the original USDS division) will be responsible for data protection, algorithm security, and content moderation, while the original TikTok entity (wholly owned by ByteDance) will continue to be responsible for its most profitable e-commerce and advertising businesses, as well as interconnectivity with global TikTok products.
An internal memo confirmed that the transaction will be completed by the end of January next year.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew confirmed the news in an internal memo to employees, setting January 22nd as the expected completion date. He emphasized, "With the agreement in place, our focus will remain unchanged—on serving users, creators, and businesses."
If the deal goes through as scheduled, it will mark the one-year anniversary of Trump's first executive order to postpone the TikTok ban.
