WASHINGTON : The deal, announced one day ahead of a deadline set by Donald Trump, establishes a new majority American-owned joint venture to take control of TikTok’s US assets. The agreement was negotiated to comply with a 2024 law requiring the app to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or face a nationwide ban.

According to a statement from the company, the transaction formally secures TikTok’s long-term future in the US while introducing safeguards aimed at addressing national security concerns. The joint venture will implement comprehensive data protections, algorithm security measures, content moderation controls and software assurances specifically for US users.

The newly formed entity will be led by CEO Adam Presser, who previously oversaw TikTok’s US data protection efforts, and Chief Security Officer Will Farrell, who headed privacy and security initiatives. Oversight will be provided by a board that includes TikTok US CEO Shou Chew, Kenneth Glueck of Oracle, and representatives from Silver Lake, investment firm Susquehanna International Group and Emirati-backed MGX.

Trump welcomed the deal, publicly thanking Xi Jinping for approving the arrangement. “He could have gone the other way, but didn’t,” Trump said in a post, calling the agreement a decisive and successful conclusion. The Chinese government has yet to formally comment on the final structure, though Beijing has previously stated it hopes any solution complies with Chinese laws and balances interests on both sides.

Under the agreement, control of TikTok’s US user data and most domestic operations will shift to the new joint venture, which will be 50% owned by a consortium led by Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. Just over 30% will remain with affiliates of existing ByteDance investors, while ByteDance itself will retain a 19.9% stake. Oracle will oversee storage of American user data, and the US entity will take responsibility for content moderation within the country.

While TikTok’s core user experience is expected to remain largely unchanged for its more than 200 million American users, the algorithm that determines video recommendations could evolve as it is retrained on US user data. The joint venture will continue to license the algorithm from ByteDance initially, before conducting its own reviews and adjustments.

The deal brings closure to a saga that began during Trump’s first term, when he threatened to ban the app, and intensified in 2024 when a bipartisan law mandated a sale or shutdown. Although the agreement has been designated a “qualified divestiture,” questions remain among US lawmakers about whether it fully resolves concerns over potential foreign influence on TikTok’s content and recommendation systems.