TikTok finalizes U.S. joint venture

The long and winding road over the fate of TikTok - the enormously popular social video platform that has been a force in American youth culture and entertainment-has come to an end.

- By Cerys Davies

INA FASSBENDER AFP via Getty Images THE PACT follows years of uncertainty about a possible TikTok ban in the U.S.

After years of questions about TikTok’s future in America, the social media platform and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have finalized the app’s U.S. joint venture.

The announcement concludes a saga that began six years ago, when President Trump during his first term sought to ban the platform, citing national security concerns involving ByteDance.

Trump shifted his views after ByteDance and its affiliates agreed to divest majority ownership of U.S. operation to an American-led investor group.

The joint venture deal was established under an executive order signed by Trump in September.

In an announcement posted Thursday, TikTok said the U.S. joint venture now has three managing investors: Silver Lake, Oracle and Emirati investment firm MGX, each holding 15%, with ByteDance retaining 19.9% of investments.

The remainder is owned by a host of investment companies, some of which previously invested in ByteDance.

The new firm will be headed by Adam Presser, who previously worked as TikTok’s head of operations and trust and safety. He will join a seven-member, majority-American board of directors that includes TikTok’s Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew.

In a Truth Social post, Trump thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping “for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal” and said it was a “dramatic, final, and beautiful conclusion.”

“I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok!” he wrote. “I only hope that long into the future I will be remembered by those who use and love TikTok.”