Singapore, 23 January 2026 – TikTok has secured its continued operation in the United States after concluding a long-running agreement to spin off its U.S. business into a majority American-owned entity, ending years of regulatory uncertainty over a potential nationwide ban. In a message to users, TikTok Chief Executive Chew Shou Zi thanked the platform’s community around the world for their creativity and support amid the transformation.
Under the newly established structure, TikTok’s U.S. operations will be governed by a new corporate entity backed principally by a consortium of American and global investors led by firms such as Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX, with ByteDance retaining a minority stake under U.S. law. The arrangement, agreed by both U.S. and Chinese authorities, allows TikTok to address long-standing national security and data-protection concerns tied to its Chinese parent company’s ownership.
Mr Chew, a Singaporean executive who has led the company since 2021, expressed his gratitude on TikTok to the app’s one billion international users and the approximately 200 million Americans who continue to share content and engage with the platform each month. He highlighted the community’s role in sustaining TikTok’s creative culture even as the business navigated intense scrutiny and political pressures in Washington.
The finalisation of the U.S. venture settles years of legal and political debate after U.S. lawmakers passed legislation requiring TikTok to divest its American operations or face a ban, a measure upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2025. Although the platform briefly faced shutdown threats, negotiations and restructuring efforts ultimately delivered a pathway for the app to remain online in the U.S., maintaining its access to one of the world’s largest digital markets.
Analysts say the resolution not only preserves TikTok’s commercial ecosystem, from advertising to creator monetisation, but also offers a model for how globally integrated technology companies can adapt to rising geopolitical and regulatory demands on data governance and digital sovereignty.
