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By Sonny Aragba-Akpore
After nearly five years of back-and-forth movements, TikTok, originally owned by ByteDance of China, will now have a definite direction on its American platform.
RELATED: US Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban: App faces uncertain future amid looming deadline
On December 16, 2025, which was supposed to serve as a conclusion of the divestment deal or remain banned, President Donald Trump announced a new date of January 22, 2026, as the agreed deadline for the conclusion of the divestment deal. Specifically, U S. investors like Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX would own the majority (around 45%), with ByteDance retaining a minority stake (19.9%).
Decoupling TikTok from Chinese Government Control
The new U.S. entity would control the algorithm, codebase, and content moderation for the U.S. platform, with U.S. user data stored by Oracle. The goal is severe control from the Chinese government and the elimination of national security concerns. In April 2024,”
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the “Act”) was signed into law, giving ByteDance nine months to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a ban. Then on January 17, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected TikTok’s appeal, upholding the law and allowing the ban to proceed.
By January 19, 2025, the ban went into effect, making it unlawful for U.S. app stores to distribute TikTok unless a divestiture occurred. Between September and October 2025, the Trump administration announced a qualified divestiture plan, allowing a U.S.-controlled joint venture to take over. It then gave a timeline of December 16, 2025. Nearly initial attempts to ban, Trump shifted focus to forcing a sale, using executive orders to delay deadlines and facilitate a deal that now includes major U.S. tech/investment firms.
TikTok U.S. to Operate as an Independent American Entity
The new” TikTok U.S.” will operate as an American company with one Emirati company as part of the consortium. The new alliance is a significant step to prevent the app from going dark for its 170+ million American users.
The new structure aims to address security concerns by separating U.S. operations from ByteDance and ensuring U.S. oversight.
The deal’s closure and implementation will be closely watched, with questions remaining about long-term governance and the degree of actual independence from China, according to Tech Policy Press. After briefly going dark in the US to comply with the divest-or-ban law targeting ByteDance that went into effect on January 19, 2025, TikTok quickly came back online. It eventually reappeared in the App Store and Google Play as negotiations between the US and China continued, and Trump continued to sign extensions directing officials not to apply the law’s penalties.
Shou Zi Chew Outlines TikTok’s American Future
Finally, on December, 16, 2025, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees that the agreements to create TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which includes Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX as part owners, have been signed, and the deal is expected to close on January 22, 2026.
His letter to employees said that for users in the US, the new joint venture will oversee data protection, the security of a newly-retrained algorithm, content moderation, and the deployment of the US app and platform. The TikTok deal essentially seeks to comply with an executive order signed by Trump in September, which ensured American investors would enjoy majority ownership of TikTok’s U.S. operations, while China-based owner ByteDance would retain less than 20% of the firm.
Under the agreement, TikTok will form a new U.S. joint venture controlled mostly by American investors that include software giant Oracle Corporation and private equity firm Silver Lake, each of which will retain 15% ownership of the new company, the memo said. MGX, an investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates, will also hold a 15% stake in the venture.
New U.S. TikTok Entity Maintains ByteDance & Investor Ties
The remaining share of the company will be controlled by ByteDance and its affiliated investors, with ByteDance retaining 19.9% of the firm, according to the memo by ByteDance CEO, Chew. The deal also establishes a seven-member, majority-American board of directors for the venture, the memo said, putting the agreement in compliance with another stipulation of the executive order signed by Trump. Less than two years ago, TikTok was in crisis on Capitol Hill. The chair of the House Select Committee on China called it “digital fentanyl” that brainwashes young Americans into supporting Hamas.
A former national security adviser said letting TikTok remain in the US under its Chinese owner “would be akin to allowing Soviet control of several major American newspapers and TV channels during the Cold War.” Lawmakers left classified national security briefings about TikTok sharing grave concerns. All of it culminated in the surprise frenzy of a bipartisan bill forcing Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the app or face a ban, which swiftly became law.
But nearly a year after the app should have been kicked out of the US, TikTok remains widely available, thanks to intervention from the administration of President Trump. A promised acquisition by US investors, brokered through Trump, has been stalled for months. And the lawmakers who passed the ban are largely staying quiet. But at last, investors have formed a consortium to take over the platform.
How Executive Orders Are Determining TikTok’s U.S. Fate
On August 6, 2020, Trump signed Executive Order 13942, which directed the U.S. to prohibit transactions with ByteDance Ltd (TikTok’s parent) under U.S. jurisdiction. Other related orders, including one for WeChat, were issued around the same time.
On June 9, 2021, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14034, which revoked the earlier Trump orders and replaced them with a broader review framework for apps tied to foreign adversaries. In Trump’s second coming in 2025, he issued a series of executive orders delaying the enforcement of a law (Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act) that would effectively ban TikTok if not divested.
These include Executive Order 14166 (January 20, 2025), Executive Order 14258 (April 4, 2025), Executive Order 14310 (June 19, 2025), and Executive Order 14350 (September 16, 2025), in that regard. In all, there were six executive orders to divest or ban TikTok under American jurisdiction until December 16 extension further extended to January 22, 2026. These follow a framework deal between the US and China that aims to have American companies own the majority of US operations.
Supreme Court Rules to Enforce TikTok Asset Sale
The law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US assets or face a ban was upheld by the Supreme Court and was originally set to go into effect in January 2025, but Trump issued executive orders to postpone enforcement to allow the divestiture process to be completed.
The ban’s enforcement has been repeatedly delayed by the Trump administration through executive orders. The framework deal reached with China will enable the US to collect a fee from this deal.
The agreement includes provisions for a new, American-majority board of directors and ensures that Americans’ data will be stored in the US with no access for China, and this deal must be signed, and the sale must be completed for the ban to be permanently averted.
