TikTok to Sell US Operations in Landmark Deal
According to the Economic Desk of Webangah News Agency, TikTok and ByteDance have signed binding agreements to create an American joint venture with a majority stake held by US investors. TikTok CEO Shou Chew shared the news in an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg, expressing his satisfaction with the agreements reached with Oracle, Silver Lake Management, and MGX.
The deal is expected to close on January 22, 2026, according to Chew, though he noted that significant work remains. Chinese authorities have not yet indicated whether they will approve the transaction.
Upon finalization, the American joint venture will operate as an independent entity, overseeing data protection, content moderation, and algorithm security within the United States. The new American entity will be governed by a board of directors with a majority of seven US members.
Oracle’s stock experienced a surge of approximately 6% in after-hours trading on Thursday.
The proposed transaction aligns with the framework outlined by the White House in September, which valued TikTok’s US unit at approximately $14 billion and awaited Chinese approval.
ByteDance’s content recommendation algorithms are considered fundamental to TikTok’s business. Under the terms outlined by the White House, ByteDance is expected to license its AI recommendation technology to the newly formed TikTok US entity. This entity will utilize the existing algorithm to retrain a new system on US data secured by Oracle, TikTok’s cloud partner.
Oracle’s role as a data security guardian has also raised concerns. This agreement mirrors a previous collaboration between TikTok and Oracle, proposed years ago to address similar concerns about TikTok’s Chinese ownership. That initiative, known as “Project Texas,” was ultimately rejected by the US government as insufficient to address national security issues.
Bloomberg reports that if finalized, this agreement would resolve a long-standing point of contention in relations between Beijing and Washington, signaling progress in broader negotiations between the two countries regarding trade and other disputed matters.
