On Friday, the long-awaited TikTok US deal was finally unveiled, putting an end to the “will they, won’t they” drama that has gripped Washington and Silicon Valley for the last two years. The ban is off the table. But the TikTok that remains is a corporate Frankenstein designed to satisfy everyone and no one at the same time.
According to the announcement, the new entity is called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. It is a mouthful, but it is the only reason 170 million Americans can still scroll through their For You feeds this morning.
The New Cap Table
The structure of the TikTok US deal, is complicated by design.
ByteDance, the Chinese parent company that has been the target of bipartisan rage, has slashed its holdings. They are retaining a ByteDance minority equity stake of just 19.9%. That keeps them in the room, but it kicks them out of the driver’s seat.
So, who owns the rest?
- Oracle has taken a 15% slice.
- Private equity powerhouse Silver Lake also grabbed 15%.
- MGX, the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, secured another 15%.
- The remaining equity is split among existing investors like Susquehanna (through its affiliate Vastmere) and Alpha Wave.
This isn’t just an investment round; it is a partition. The TikTok US deal was built to dilute Chinese ownership below the threshold that triggers a federal ban.
The “USDS” Firewall
The most critical part of the TikTok US deal, is the control.
The new company, TikTok USDS Joint Venture, is explicitly responsible for the “crown jewels”: data protection, software assurance, and content moderation.
For years, the fear was that Beijing could access American user data or tweak the algorithm to push propaganda. This deal attempts to build a concrete wall around those functions. Oracle data security oversight is now the law of the land for the app. If data moves, Oracle watches it. If the code changes, Oracle audits it.
Why It Happened Now
The timing is not a coincidence.
We were inches away from a total blackout. The “divest-or-ban” legislation had a hard deadline, and despite the legal challenges, the courts weren’t saving TikTok fast enough. ByteDance had to choose between losing the American market entirely or selling off the majority of its golden goose.
They chose the sale. By accepting the TikTok US deal, they preserve their revenue stream (or at least 19.9% of it) and keep the brand alive globally.
The Security Question
Does this actually fix the problem? That depends on who you ask.
Hawks in Congress will argue that a ByteDance minority equity stake is still too high. They wanted a clean break, not a restructuring. But for the White House, this is a victory lap. They can claim they addressed US national security concerns without alienating 170 million young voters by killing their favorite app.The app on your phone won’t look different. The logo is the same. The videos are the same. But the machinery behind it has been completely rewired. The TikTok US deal is now an American concern with American oversight, funded by global cash.
