Lagos, Dec. 18, 2025 (Naija247news) — TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has announced that the company’s U.S. operations will now operate under a new joint venture, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, in a move aimed at addressing national security concerns and meeting U.S. regulatory requirements.
In a memo obtained by Naija247news, Chew said the venture involves agreements with three major managing investors: Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, with a scheduled closing date of January 22, 2026.
The restructuring follows a national security law, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, which required ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to divest its U.S. operations or face a ban. The deal was fast-tracked through an executive order signed in September to keep TikTok operational in the U.S.
Chew explained that the new U.S. entity will be “majority owned by American investors, governed by a seven-member majority-American board of directors, and subject to terms that protect Americans’ data and U.S. national security.”
Under the arrangement:
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U.S. investors—including Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX—will collectively hold 50%, with each owning 15%.
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ByteDance affiliates will retain just over 30%, while ByteDance itself will hold 19.9%.
The joint venture will oversee U.S. data protection, content moderation, software assurance, and the security of TikTok’s algorithm. Oracle will act as the “trusted security partner,” auditing and validating compliance with U.S. national security terms. Sensitive American user data will be stored on Oracle’s U.S.-based cloud servers.
Chew added that the U.S. joint venture will retrain TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm on American user data to prevent external manipulation, while also managing e-commerce, advertising, marketing, and global product interoperability.
The move comes after a 120-day enforcement delay under Trump’s executive order, designed to allow the divestiture to conclude by January 23.
The TikTok USDS Joint Venture represents a landmark shift in tech geopolitics, balancing global operations with domestic security requirements—a model that could redefine how foreign tech companies operate in the United States.
Emma Tochi ✔
Godwin Okafor is the Publisher & CEO of Naija247news Media Group LLC, an independent investigative news platform delivering accurate, data-driven reporting on Nigerian and global politics, economy, finance, and business. Founded in October 2010, Naija247news specializes in developmental journalism, providing timely insights and analysis to readers across Nigeria and the diaspora.
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