TikTok has officially completed the deal to sell its US operations, as reported by Axios, The Hollywood Reporter, and CNBC. In an internal memo shared with these outlets, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew announced that the deal will close on January 22. Under the new structure, Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX will own 45% of the company, while its parent company, ByteDance, based in China, will hold 20%. The remaining stake will be owned by “affiliates of existing ByteDance investors,” according to Axios.
Earlier this year, TikTok briefly went offline in the US as the divest-or-ban law came into play. Throughout the year, President Donald Trump granted TikTok several extensions to finalize a deal for its US operations. The US and China established a “framework” for a deal in September, which led to yet another extension that wrapped up on December 16.
Chew expressed gratitude for the team’s efforts, stating, “Your efforts keep us operating at the highest level and will ensure that TikTok continues to grow and thrive in the U.S. and around the world.” He added, “With these agreements in place, our focus must stay where it’s always been — firmly on delivering for our users, creators, businesses, and the global TikTok community.”
Reports suggest that the US version of TikTok will utilize an algorithm similar to the one developed by ByteDance, but it will be retrained on US user data and managed by Oracle. TikTok has not yet responded to The Verge’s request for comment.
