{"id":19370,"date":"2025-12-19T18:48:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T18:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/tiktok-reaches-deal-with-us-investors-heres-who-owns-what\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T18:48:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T18:48:54","slug":"tiktok-reaches-deal-with-us-investors-heres-who-owns-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/tiktok-reaches-deal-with-us-investors-heres-who-owns-what\/","title":{"rendered":"TikTok Reaches Deal With US Investors: Here\u2019s Who Owns What"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Oracle-backed investor group is set to take majority control of TikTok\u2019s U.S. operations, pending regulatory approval. Photo by Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A yearslong saga over the future of TikTok<\/a> in America is nearing its end. The U.S. division of the popular social media app, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance<\/a>, will soon be majority-owned by a coalition of U.S. investors that includes Oracle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The agreement was detailed in an internal memo from TikTok CEO Shou Chew, first reported by Axios<\/a>. Oracle, alongside private equity firm Silver Lake and the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX<\/a>, will own 45 percent of TikTok\u2019s U.S. operations. ByteDance will retain a stake just below 20 percent, and affiliates of existing ByteDance investors will own the remaining roughly one-third.<\/p>\n

MGX did not respond to requests for comment from Observer. Oracle and Silver Lake declined to comment.<\/p>\n

The development follows years of concern over ByteDance\u2019s access to data on U.S. citizens, an estimated 170 million of whom use TikTok. Efforts to either ban the app in the U.S. or force a sale to American owners began last year under the Biden administration, with deadlines later extended multiple times by President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The terms of TikTok\u2019s new deal appear to closely mirror a framework laid out by the White House in September to place the company\u2019s U.S. division in domestic hands. Under that proposal, Oracle would be responsible for recreating TikTok\u2019s algorithm by retraining a new version for the U.S. market and protecting American user data in a secure cloud. At the time, Trump said Chinese President\u00a0 Xi Jinping had expressed approval of the plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oracle will play a similar role in TikTok\u2019s new agreement, which is expected to close on Jan. 22. The American owners of the division will oversee \u201cretraining the content commendation algorithm on U.S. user data to ensure the content feed is freed from outside manipulation,\u201d according to the Chew\u2019s memo, which also notes that Oracle will serve as a \u201ctrusted security partner\u201d upon the deal\u2019s completion.<\/p>\n

Austin-based Oracle, co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison<\/a>, has emerged as the winner among a crowded group of U.S. players<\/a>\u2014including MrBeast and Perplexity AI\u2014bidding for ownership of TikTok. The deal is set to further deepen ties between TikTok and the tech company, which already helps the platform store U.S. user data. Oracle\u2019s shares are up by more than 7 percent today (Dec. 19).<\/p>\n

The new deal is expected to value TikTok at approximately $14 billion, according to Axios. After it closes, TikTok\u2019s U.S. operations \u201cwill operate as an independent entity with authority over U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance,\u201d the memo said, while \u201cTikTok global\u2019s U.S. entities will manage global product interoperability and certain commercial activities, including e-commerce, advertising and marketing.\u201d The U.S. venture will be governed by a seven-member, majority-American board.<\/p>\n

The agreement, which is still pending approval from Chinese regulators, would resolve a longstanding point of contention between Washington and Beijing. Not all lawmakers, however, are convinced that it goes far enough to safeguard national security or protect the data of U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis deal won\u2019t do a thing to protect the privacy of American users,\u201d said Senator Rob Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, in a statement.\u201dIt\u2019s unclear that it will even put TikTok\u2019s algorithm in safer hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

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