TikTok announced Thursday it has established a majority American-owned joint venture to operate its US business, allowing the company to avoid a ban over its Chinese ownership. The video-sharing app is a global digital entertainment powerhouse but its mass appeal and links to China have raised concerns over privacy and national security. The TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will serve more than 200 million users and 7.5 million businesses while implementing strict safeguards for data protection and content moderation, the company said.
The new structure responds to a law passed under US President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden that forced Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban in its biggest market. Trump welcomed and claimed credit for the deal, but also thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for approving it. “I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social late Thursday.
It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be an important Voice. “I would also like to thank President Xi, of China, for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal,” he added. ByteDance retains a 19.9 percent stake in the joint venture — keeping its ownership below the 20 percent threshold stipulated by the law.
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Three investors — Silver Lake, Oracle and Abu Dhabi-based AI investment fund MGX — each hold 15 percent stakes. Oracle’s executive chairman Larry Ellison is a longtime Trump ally.
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