TikTok Reaches Deal to Sell US Entity to American Investors
TikTok has signed a deal to sell its US entity to a joint venture controlled by American investors, marking the end of a years-long saga to address national security concerns. According to an internal memo seen by Axios, the deal would transfer ownership of TikTok’s US operations to a group of domestic investors, easing concerns over the app’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
The deal, scheduled to close on January 22, will see Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX collectively own 45% of the US entity. Nearly a third of the company will be held by affiliates of ByteDance’s current investors, while nearly 20% will remain with ByteDance. This development comes after the White House and the Chinese government reached an agreement in principle in September to sell TikTok’s US operations to a joint venture controlled by a group of American investors led by Andreessen Horowitz, Silver Lake, and Oracle.
Background and Context
In 2020, former President Trump issued an executive order calling for ByteDance to sell its US operations, citing national security concerns. The issue was further complicated in 2024 when Congress passed a law to ban the app if the sale did not occur. The Supreme Court upheld this law in January, prompting Trump to repeatedly postpone its implementation through a series of executive orders as his administration tried to negotiate a sale.
The sale of TikTok’s US entity to American investors is seen as a significant development in the ongoing saga. With the deal set to close on January 22, it remains to be seen how this will impact the app’s operations and user experience. For more information on this story, readers can refer to the original report Here