TikTok Sold As US Package Deal, China's ByteDance Keeps 20% Lifeline
KEY POINTS
- •TikTok's U.S. entity was sold to a joint venture led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi's MGX just before the Trump-era ban took effect.
- •The new entity, called 'TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC,' includes ByteDance retaining nearly 20%, with other American investors like Michael Dell's family office onboard.
- •Adam Presser was named CEO and Will Farrell chief security officer, with a seven-member board featuring executives from TikTok, Silver Lake, Oracle, and other investors.
In a plot twist that seems like a multiplayer board game gone geopolitical, TikTok's U.S. entity was offloaded the day before Trump’s TikTok ban executive order took effect—because timing is everything, right? Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX grabbed 45% ownership of the newly minted 'TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC,' which sounds less like a social app and more like a very boring law firm. ByteDance still clings to nearly 20%, like that guest who refuses to leave the party. Meanwhile, heavyweights like Michael Dell's family office and AOL co-founder Steve Case's Revolution invested in the mix. The deal was pegged at $14 billion — ironically just about equal to TikTok's own *annual* ad revenue coiled like a cat waiting to pounce on regulators. Enter CEO Adam Presser and chief security officer 'Will Farrell' (no, not the funny guy), tasked with keeping U.S. user data algorithmically squeaky clean. Also, remember the Fox News cameo where Trump name-dropped Murdochs and Dells like he was casting a reality show? Yep, welcome to the TikTok drama, where Congress, the Supreme Court, and Trump’s executive orders set the stage for the world’s weirdest corporate musical chairs.
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TikTok US sold for $14B, roughly one year’s ad revenue. ByteDance stays in with 20%—because splitting your secrets 45 ways is national security now.
So TikTok’s American takeover means Oracle audits the algorithm while ByteDance watches from the sidelines. It’s like hiring your ex to guard your diary.
Trump’s TikTok sell-off saga proves if you delay an inevitable ban long enough, you get a joint venture with every investor you didn’t invite to Thanksgiving.
Source: Axios | Published: 1/23/2026 | Author: Sara Fischer
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