The deal to secure TikTok's future in the US has finally closed [View all]

Source: CNN Business

Updated Jan 22, 2026, 7:43 PM ET
PUBLISHED Jan 22, 2026, 7:32 PM ET


New York - The joint venture acquiring TikTok’s US assets has been formally established and has announced its leadership team, according to the company, one day before the deadline set by President Donald Trump for the app’s US assets to be spun off by Chinese parent company ByteDance. The transaction’s close concludes a yearslong effort to secure TikTok’s long-term future in the United States and address concerns that it posed a national security risk.

“The majority American owned Joint Venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users,” the group said in a statement on Thursday. The joint venture will be led by CEO Adam Presser, who previously led TikTok’s efforts to secure Americans’ user data in the United States, and Chief Security Officer Will Farrell, who led privacy and security for the effort.

It will be overseen by a board that includes TikTok US CEO Shou Chew; Kenneth Glueck, Executive Vice President in the Office of the Chief Executive Officer at Oracle; and representatives of investment firm Susquehanna International Group and private equity firm Silver Lake, Emirati investment firm MGX, among others.

The US TikTok saga began when Trump, during his first term, vowed to ban the app. It ramped up in 2024 when then-President Joe Biden signed a law requiring that the US version of the app be spun off from its parent company, ByteDance, or be banned in the United States. During his second term, Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law as he sought a deal to transfer control of the app’s US operations to American ownership.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/22/tech/tiktok-us-deal-closes