TikTok has finally come under the control of US company

TikTok in the US is now controlled by a newly created structure TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The deal was completed after approval from the US and Chinese authorities, with ByteDance’s stake reduced to 19.9% ​​in accordance with the “sell or ban” law adopted in 2024. The company announced this in an official blog.

A controlling stake of 80.1% now belongs to a group of investors. The key participants in the transaction were Silver Lake, Oracle and the Abu Dhabi investment company MGX – each of them received 15% of the shares. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and it is also not yet specified whether a separate version of the TikTok application will be launched specifically for the US market.

Responsibility for data and algorithms

The new company will be responsible for storing and protecting U.S. user data, security of the recommendation algorithm, content moderation, and programmatic verification of apps. These requirements apply to TikTok as well as other ByteDance U.S. services, including CapCut and Lemon8.

U.S. user data will be stored in Oracle’s cloud infrastructure in the United States. The recommendation algorithm for the U.S. segment will be retrained, tested, and updated on Oracle US Cloud. The company claims to be compliant with NIST, ISO 27001, and the requirements of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Corporate Governance

TikTok USDS is governed by a seven-member board of directors, including TikTok CEO Shou Ji Chu. The position of CEO of TikTok USDS was taken by Adam Presser, who was previously responsible for the company’s operations and trust and safety.

The change in ownership structure was the result of agreements with US and Chinese regulators. The deal was made possible after a series of delays granted by the administration of President Donald Trump. Previously, the service temporarily suspended operations in the US, and in September the parties agreed on a framework agreement that allowed TikTok to avoid an immediate ban on the American market.