The Chinese-owned video app formalized commitments from the software giant Oracle and two investment firms as part of a deal to keep operating in the United States.
Dec. 18, 2025Updated 9:02 p.m. ET
TikTok’s chief executive told employees on Thursday that the company had signed agreements with three major new investors to help form an American version of TikTok, bringing it one step closer to completing a deal to keep the app operating in the United States, according to an internal memo reviewed by The New York Times.
The agreements do not mean that a deal for an American version of TikTok is done, as these investors would form only 45 percent of the new ownership. It’s not clear where the rest of the deal stands.
In the memo, the chief executive, Shou Chew, said TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, had signed binding agreements with the software giant Oracle; Silver Lake, an investment company; and MGX, an Emirati investment firm. Those three and other investors would run a new version of the popular short-form video app.
“There’s more work to be done,” Mr. Chew wrote.
The deal is an attempt to comply with a federal law that requires TikTok to reduce its Chinese ownership or face a ban in the United States. It was passed last year out of concern that Beijing could use the app to gain access to Americans’ sensitive data or to spread propaganda. President Trump has repeatedly delayed enforcement of the ban.
The agreements bring TikTok, one of the country’s most popular social media apps, closer to resolving more than six years of questions about its future. TikTok has more than 170 million users in the United States, and exerts powerful influence over culture, conversation and politics in the country.
TikTok and Silver Lake declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Vice President JD Vance, who has managed the sale process for the White House, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Oracle and MGX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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