TikTok announced Thursday the successful conclusion of a five-year saga that began with initial ban threats in 2020, finalizing a comprehensive ownership restructuring that establishes a majority American-owned entity. The deal represents the resolution of one of the most protracted regulatory battles in social media history.
ByteDance, the Chinese technology conglomerate that created TikTok, has agreed to reduce its ownership stake to 19.9% in the American entity after years of regulatory pressure, while US investors assume controlling interest with 80.1% of the company. Three major investors share equal ownership at 15% each: Oracle, the enterprise technology giant; Silver Lake, a prominent private equity firm specializing in technology investments; and MGX, an investment entity from Abu Dhabi. Michael Dell’s investment firm provides additional American capital.
The resolution brings closure to a conflict that began five years ago when then-President Trump first threatened to ban the app, intensified with 2024 congressional legislation requiring divestment, escalated through Supreme Court litigation, and finally resolved through deal negotiations facilitated by President Trump in his second term. The saga encompassed two presidential administrations, multiple congressional sessions, and extensive legal proceedings.
Leadership of the American entity will be entrusted to Adam Presser, who witnessed much of the saga unfold during his tenure in previous senior positions managing global operations and trust and safety functions for TikTok. The company will be overseen by a seven-member board of directors, deliberately designed with an American majority and composed of cybersecurity and national security experts. Current global TikTok CEO Shou Chew will participate as a board member.
The new US entity commits to implementing the comprehensive safeguards developed over years of negotiation and regulatory scrutiny, including advanced data protection protocols, secured algorithms, enhanced content moderation, and software integrity measures. The platform’s recommendation algorithm will be completely retrained using exclusively US user data, with continuous testing and refinement. Both US and Chinese government officials have approved the arrangement, with President Trump publicly expressing thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinping for his role in concluding the five-year saga.