TikTok deal timeline: From proposed ban in 2020 to ByteDance JV for US unit sale in 2026 — Here's all you need to know

Video-sharing platform TikTok, with around 200 million users in the United States, has finalised a deal to transfer control of its American unit in compliance with a deal signed with the Trump administration.

As per a Bloomberg report, TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance on 22 January closed a long-awaited joint venture to transfer parts of TikTok US to new owners, including US software giant Oracle Corp., private equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC, and Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX.

Under the deal, ByteDance will lease a copy of its content algorithm to the US entity, which will allow it to retrain the new algorithm on US user data, it said.

The sale culminates years of back-and-forth that threatened to shut down TikTok in America.

TikTok, ByteDance form JV for US business

According to Reuters, the JV known as TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will secure US user data, apps and algorithms through data privacy and cybersecurity measures. It cited internal documents from the company.

Bloomberg added that TikTok CEO Shou Chew will join TikTok US's board while continuing to run the app globally. Chew's deputy, Adam Presser, will take over as CEO in the US.

Under the deal, new investors will hold 50% of the new TikTok US entity, while existing ByteDance investors will control 30.1%, and parent ByteDance will hold 19.9%, according to Bloomberg.

ByteDance is also expected to maintain control over TikTok US's advertising division and fast-growing e-commerce segment, TikTok Shop.

Donald Trump celebrates TikTok deal

US President Donald Trump on 23 January thanked Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, hours after the JV was announced, writing on Truth Social: “I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok! It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be an important Voice. I would also like to thank President Xi, of China, for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal. He could have gone the other way, but didn’t, and is appreciated for his decision.”

Trump credited TikTok with helping him secure the youth vote in the 2024 US presidential election and also thanked Vice President JD Vance and others in his administration for pushing the deal over the finish line.

Here's a timeline of the TikTok deal in the US

• 2020: During his first term as president, Trump promised to ban TikTok over concerns that the Chinese government had access and control of US user data. The bid was unsuccessful.
• In August 2020, Trump issued an executive order banning transactions with TikTok and ByteDance, starting in 45 days. A month later, he ordered ByteDance to divest its interest in TikTok's US operations within 90 days.
• 2024: The move to ban the app in the US was passed by Congress in March 2024, conditional on parent ByteDance selling the app to a US company.

• Then US President Joe Biden signed the law, called ‘Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act’, which required that TikTok's US unit be shaved off from its parent company, ByteDance, in order to continue functioning in the US; or else face a ban.
• 2025: Since re-taking the White House, Trump repeatedly delayed enforcement of the law as he sought a deal to transfer control of the app’s US operations to American ownership.
• Last fall, he approved a deal which gave the parties a deadline till 23 January to finalise the transaction. TikTok signed the deal last month, as per a CNN report.
• 2026: TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance on 22 January closed a long-awaited joint venture to transfer parts of TikTok's United States business to non-Chinese owners.