Remember in September when President Donald Trump signed an executive order finalizing some of the terms of a deal to spin off TikTok’s US business? Three months later, the same deal is apparently one step closer to becoming official.
according to bloombergTikTok CEO Shaw Chew told employees that TikTok and ByteDance have signed an agreement to take control of TikTok’s US business. The terms of the deal appear to be almost identical to those announced by Trump earlier this year. A group of US investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will control the majority of the new entity, while ByteDance will keep a smaller stake in the venture.
The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22, 2026, according to Chew’s memo. “Upon closing, the US joint venture, built on the foundation of the existing TikTok US Data Security (USDS) organization, will operate as an independent entity with authority over US data security, algorithmic security, content moderation and software assurance,” they wrote. bloombergTikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment,
Notably, it is still unclear what stance Chinese officials take on the deal. Trump said in September that China “completely agrees”, but subsequent meetings between the two sides have so far yielded vague statements. In October, China’s Commerce Ministry said it would “work with the US to appropriately resolve TikTok-related issues.”
If a deal is indeed finalized by next month, it would come nearly a year after Trump’s first executive order to delay legislation that requires the sale of app fronts or the ban to take effect. He has since signed several other extensions.
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