TikTok’s US business has now been officially sold by Bytedance to a new entity TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a joint venture between Bytedance and several US entities. The sale was finally made after President Biden ordered the sale on September 25 last year due to alleged security risks to users in the US.
USDS Joint Venture LLC shares are held by Bytedance at 19.9% while Silver Lake, Oracle, and MGX each hold 15%. Other investors include Dell Family Office, Susquehanna, Alpha Wave, Revolution, General Atlantic, Virgo LI, and NJJ Capital
With the sale officially taking place today, over 200 million users and 7.5 million businesses in the US can now continue to use the platform without having to worry about being banned as was the case for a few days last year. Other Bytedance apps such as CapCut, Lemon8, and other Bytedance sites are now also allowed to operate without having to worry about being banned.
US user data is now stored using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and meets NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, and CISA requirements. The new company will manage security, data, and algorithms for US users.
New algorithms specifically for local users will be developed using data stored by Oracle. TikTok Global will still handle advertising, marketing, e-commerce, and manageability.
