The widely popular video-sharing platform TikTok has successfully achieved compliance with 2024 congressional legislation by finalizing an ownership transformation that establishes a majority American-owned entity. The announcement Thursday demonstrates how the company navigated complex legal requirements to preserve its US operations.
ByteDance, the Chinese technology conglomerate that created TikTok, has agreed to reduce its ownership stake to 19.9% in the American entity to comply with legislative mandates, while US investors assume controlling interest with 80.1% of the company. Three major investors share equal ownership at 15% each: Oracle, the enterprise technology giant; Silver Lake, a prominent private equity firm specializing in technology investments; and MGX, an investment entity from Abu Dhabi. Michael Dell’s investment firm provides additional American capital.
The ownership restructuring directly responds to legislation enacted by Congress in 2024 that gave TikTok an ultimatum: separate from Chinese ownership or face prohibition from American digital infrastructure. The law set specific requirements for what would constitute compliance, including majority US ownership and American governance structures. The Supreme Court affirmed the legislation’s validity in January 2025, eliminating any remaining legal questions about the compliance requirements.
Leadership of the American entity will be entrusted to Adam Presser, meeting the legislation’s requirement for American operational control, with his experience from previous senior positions managing global operations and trust and safety functions. The company will be overseen by a seven-member board of directors, deliberately designed with an American majority to satisfy legislative governance requirements and composed of cybersecurity and national security experts. Current global TikTok CEO Shou Chew will participate as a board member.
The new US entity commits to implementing the security measures required by legislation, including comprehensive data protection protocols, secured algorithms, enhanced content moderation, and software integrity measures specifically designed for American users. The platform’s recommendation algorithm will be completely retrained using exclusively US user data, with ongoing testing and refinement to ensure compliance with independence requirements. Both US and Chinese government officials have approved the arrangement, with the legislation granting presidential authority to determine compliance, which President Trump has exercised favorably.