TikTok’s Great Escape: Divestiture Closes as New USDS Entity Takes Control

TikTok has completed its U.S. divestiture, creating a new entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. ByteDance’s equity has been reduced to 19.9%, while non-Chinese investors hold 80.1%, with Oracle and Silver Lake each on 15%, MGX on 15%, and the Dell Family Office on 5%, leaving 30.1% with TikTok’s existing global shareholders.

A seven‑member board, including CEO Shou Zi Chew and representatives from the investing consortium, will oversee the new entity, which is led by Adam Presser as CEO and Will Farrell as Chief Security Officer. ByteDance retains ownership of the underlying algorithm through a licensing arrangement, allowing TikTok USDS to use the code while Beijing’s export controls are satisfied.

Oracle’s cloud infrastructure will be used to re‑train content recommendation models for U.S. users, with the mandate to protect American user data, ensure algorithmic compliance, and moderate content across TikTok, CapCut and Lemon8. The transition is aimed at continuity for roughly 200 million American users and 7.5 million merchants, while shifting governance and data security oversight to American hands. 26 January 2026.