In a comprehensive approach to platform security, TikTok confirmed Thursday that it has finalized an ownership restructuring establishing a majority American-owned entity with multi-layered protection systems addressing data security, algorithm integrity, content moderation, and software assurance. The agreement implements defense-in-depth security principles.
ByteDance, the Beijing-based technology company behind TikTok, has agreed to reduce its ownership stake to 19.9% in the American entity, while US investors control 80.1%. The American ownership group includes three major stakeholders with equal 15% shares: Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX. Michael Dell’s investment firm also contributes.
The deal addresses bipartisan legislation enacted in 2024 that effectively banned TikTok unless it separated from Chinese ownership, with national security concerns spanning multiple technical and operational domains. Rather than addressing single vulnerabilities, the law contemplated comprehensive protection across all potential threat vectors. The Supreme Court upheld this comprehensive approach in January 2025.
Leadership of the American entity will fall to Adam Presser as CEO, with oversight from a seven-member board of directors structured with an American majority and populated by cybersecurity and national security experts capable of evaluating the multi-layered protection framework. Shou Chew will participate as a board member.
The new US entity implements a defense-in-depth approach with multiple independent layers of protection: comprehensive data protection protocols prevent unauthorized access to user information; algorithm security measures ensure recommendation systems operate independently; enhanced content moderation protects against malicious content; and software integrity assurances detect unauthorized modifications. Each layer provides independent protection, so compromise of one layer doesn’t defeat the entire security model. The platform’s recommendation algorithm undergoes complete retraining using exclusively US user data with continuous testing. Both governments have approved the arrangement.
