TikTok’s Final Transformation into an American Enterprise Nears Completion

After years of struggle, the social network TikTok has indeed become American. More precisely, as part of the concluded deal, a joint venture, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, will be created with three managing investors: Oracle, Silver Lake, and the company MGX from Abu Dhabi. In accordance with the U.S. national security law, the Chinese company ByteDance was required to sell its American divisions of TikTok or face an actual ban in the country.

In the fall, Donald Trump signed an order approving the proposed deal, which will allow TikTok to continue operations in the U.S. while complying with the requirements of the law, originally signed by Joe Biden. And now the story comes to an end. The deal will be finally closed on January 22. The new TikTok joint venture will be owned by American investors, managed by a new board of directors consisting of seven members, most of whom are Americans, and subject to conditions protecting the data of Americans and U.S. national security.

More precisely, 50% of the shares will belong to a consortium of new investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX, each of which will own 15%. Just over 30% of the shares will belong to affiliate companies of some of ByteDance’s existing investors, and almost 20% will remain with ByteDance itself.