TikTok Sale Moves Forward as China Greenlights Transfer Agreement
Illustration of TIK TOK, October 16, 2025. TikTok is a mobile application for sharing short creative videos and images, as well as a social network based on a recommendation algorithm favoring virality.

TikTok is moving closer to staying online in the United States after reaching a major deal to separate its US business from its China-based parent company, ByteDance.

The plan, backed by President Donald Trump, would place TikTok's US operations into a new company owned mostly by American investors, according to a memo sent to employees by CEO Shou Chew.

The agreement is not final yet, but it marks a big step forward. A US law passed last year requires TikTok to sell most of its American assets or face a ban.

Enforcement of that law was delayed several times while the Trump administration worked to arrange a transfer of control to US ownership.

In his memo, Chew said TikTok has signed agreements with investors to form a new U.S. joint venture.

"We have signed agreements with investors regarding a new TikTok US joint venture, enabling over 170 million Americans to continue discovering a world of endless possibilities," he wrote. A source familiar with the matter confirmed the memo, FoxBusiness reported.

Under the deal, the new TikTok US company will be owned 50% by a group led by Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-backed investment firm MGX.

Just over 30% will belong to existing ByteDance investors, while ByteDance itself will keep a 19.9% stake.

This structure is meant to meet US legal limits that require most ownership to be in non-Chinese hands.

TikTok US Algorithm to Be Retrained

Chew told employees that more steps are still needed before the deal is completed. The companies involved are aiming to finish everything by January 22, 2026, with both TikTok and ByteDance agreeing to the current terms.

The Trump administration has said the deal counts as a qualified divestiture under US law.

According to CNN, an executive order signed in September delayed the ban for 120 days to give the companies time to close the transaction.

The law, which took effect in January, bans apps like TikTok unless about 80% of their US assets are sold to non-Chinese investors.

As part of the plan, TikTok's US algorithm will be retrained using American user data, and Oracle will manage data storage for US users.

The new US company will also handle content moderation. However, ByteDance's global TikTok business is expected to continue managing e-commerce, advertising, and marketing.

The deal still needs approval from regulators in both the US and China. While President Trump has said Chinese President Xi Jinping supports the plan, China has not publicly confirmed its approval.

Originally published on vcpost.com