ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, has taken a major step to reshape how TikTok is run in the United States. The company has formed a separate American entity to oversee TikTok’s U.S. operations, a move designed to put distance between the app’s U.S. business and its Chinese ownership amid long-running concerns about data privacy, national security, and foreign influence.
This restructuring follows years of political pressure and scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers who have worried that the Chinese government could potentially gain access to Americans’ personal data. In 2024, those concerns culminated in a new U.S. law requiring TikTok’s American operations to be separated from ByteDance, pushing the company toward a formal ownership and governance overhaul.
At the center of this change is a newly created organization called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. Under the new framework, roughly 80% of the U.S. TikTok entity is controlled by non-Chinese investors, while ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake. The U.S. entity licenses TikTok’s recommendation algorithm from ByteDance, while taking responsibility for key day-to-day and oversight functions including content moderation, data protection, algorithm security, and software controls.
A major part of the plan is the new managing investor group, led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. Each holds a 15% stake, giving the trio a combined 45% share in the U.S. business. Here’s a closer look at who they are and why their involvement matters.
Oracle
Oracle is one of the best-known names in cloud computing and enterprise databases, and it already plays a crucial role in TikTok’s U.S. infrastructure. The company provides cloud services for the platform and is responsible for managing U.S. user data under existing arrangements.
In the new structure, Oracle’s role expands into a central security position. It is set to audit TikTok’s compliance with U.S. security requirements, manage data storage, and oversee updates connected to the content recommendation algorithm. That places Oracle near the heart of the issues regulators care most about: where data lives, who can access it, and how the algorithm is maintained over time.
Oracle’s leadership also brings political visibility. Co-founder Larry Ellison, now the company’s executive chairman and chief technology officer, is a high-profile billionaire with well-known connections to President Trump, adding another layer of attention to Oracle’s involvement.
MGX
MGX is an AI-focused investment firm headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, with an emphasis on semiconductors and data center infrastructure. It was formed by Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, alongside G42, an Emirati AI company.
With a stake in TikTok’s U.S. business, MGX could play a meaningful role in decisions that steer TikTok’s artificial intelligence and algorithm-related direction, particularly as AI becomes more embedded in content delivery, safety systems, and personalization technology. MGX’s broader portfolio includes backing major AI efforts such as xAI, Anthropic, and OpenAI, and it has also contributed to a large-scale AI data center initiative announced by President Trump that includes Oracle as a participant.
MGX also has partnerships with major global players, including Microsoft and BlackRock, making it a well-connected new power broker in the increasingly intertwined worlds of AI, infrastructure, and global capital.
Silver Lake
Silver Lake is a major U.S. private equity firm known for investing heavily in technology. Over the years it has backed prominent companies across consumer tech, enterprise software, and next-generation innovation, including Airbnb, Twitter, Dell Technologies, Tesla, and Waymo.
In the TikTok U.S. setup, Silver Lake’s role is primarily financial and strategic, bringing capital, deal-making experience, and long-term operational guidance to help shape the platform’s business path in the American market.
Silver Lake’s ties to MGX and G42 are also notable. The firm has worked with MGX before, including in a deal involving the software and chip company Altera, and it has been an investor in G42 since 2021. Those relationships suggest the managing investor group isn’t just a new partnership on paper, but a network with existing alignment and shared deal history.
Other investors involved in the U.S. TikTok entity
Beyond the managing trio, a broader set of investors are also part of the ownership mix, highlighting how wide-ranging the support base is behind TikTok’s U.S. restructuring:
Dell Family Office, the investment firm tied to Michael Dell
Vastmere Strategic Investments, affiliated with Susquehanna International Group (SIG), linked to billionaire Jeff Yass
Alpha Wave Partners, a global investment firm with involvement in companies such as SpaceX and Klarna
Virgo LI, the investment arm associated with Israeli tech investor Yuri Milner, an early backer of Facebook and Twitter
NJJ Capital, the family office of French billionaire Xavier Niel, founder of telecom company Iliad
Revolution, the venture capital firm founded by AOL co-founder Steve Case
Merritt Way, managed by partners of Dragoneer Investment Group, based in San Francisco
Via Nova, an affiliate of General Atlantic
What this restructuring could mean for TikTok in the U.S.
By creating a separate U.S.-run entity with majority non-Chinese ownership and a defined security and governance structure, ByteDance appears to be aiming for a model that can satisfy regulatory demands while keeping TikTok operating normally for American users. With Oracle overseeing sensitive security requirements, and major financial and AI-focused investors taking meaningful stakes, the U.S. version of TikTok is being positioned as more independently governed, more defensible under U.S. law, and potentially more insulated from foreign control concerns.
At the same time, because the new U.S. entity licenses the recommendation algorithm from ByteDance, the arrangement still preserves a connection to TikTok’s core technology, keeping the app’s signature personalization engine intact while shifting operational control, oversight, and data protection commitments into a U.S.-centered structure.
