Remember, in September, President Donald Trump signed decree did this seemingly finalize some of the terms of the 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 Shu Chu told employees that TikTok and ByteDance have signed an agreement to control TikTok's U.S. business. The terms of the deal appear to be roughly the same as what Trump announced earlier this year. A group of US investors, including Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, will control the majority of the new venture, while ByteDance will retain a smaller stake in the venture.
The deal is expected to close on January 22, 2026, according to Chu's note. “After closing, the US joint venture, created from TikTok's current US Data Security (USDS) organization, will operate as an independent entity with authority over US data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software security,” he wrote, according to Chu's memo. Bloomberg. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It is noteworthy that it is still not clear what position Chinese officials take on the deal. Back in September, Trump said China was “completely on board,” but subsequent meetings between the two sides have so far resulted in vague statements. In October, China's Ministry of Commerce said it will “work with the US to appropriately address issues related to TikTok.”
If the deal is indeed completed by next month, it would be almost exactly a year after Trump's first executive order. detain a law requiring the sale or ban of the app has gone into effect. He has since signed several more extensions.
