Here’s what you should know about the US TikTok deal

Summary

TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the U.S. for years now due to concerns about user data potentially being accessed by the Chinese government. On Thursday, January 22, 2026, TikTok announced that the TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC had officially been established to comply with President Trump’s executive order that approved the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American investor group. Now, ByteDance will own less than 20% of the new entity, with the rest of it falling into non-Chinese ownership. Over the years, U.S. users have often found themselves caught in the middle of this tension, facing uncertainty about how their access to the app would change — for creators who use TikTok to make a living, the stakes were even higher. Last year, the app experienced a temporary outage in the U.S. that left millions of users in suspense before it was quickly restored. TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store on February 2, 2025. A number of investors competed to purchase the app, and after President Trump extended the TikTok ban deadline for the fourth time, the battle finally ceased. In December 2025, TikTok officially signed a deal to divest a portion of its U.S. entity to a group of American investors. Earlier in 2025, President Trump had announced that President Xi Jinping of China had given his approval of a TikTok deal, which would allow a consortium of U.S. investors to control the platform. ByteDance stated publicly that it would ensure the platform remains available to American users. Who owns TikTok in the U.S.? Image Credits:Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch ByteDance will retain nearly a 20% stake in the company, while non-Chinese investors will hold the remaining 80% of ownership of the TikTok USDS Joint Venture. The managing investor group consists of Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and investment firm MGX. These three investors will each hold 15% of the U.S. operation, or 45% collectivel...