WASHINGTON — Oracle Corporation and a consortium of American investors on Saturday finalized the $45 billion acquisition of TikTok's U.S. operations, ending a saga that has stretched across three presidential administrations and tested the boundaries of national security law and free speech.
The deal, which received formal approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) late Friday, transfers full ownership of TikTok's American user data, algorithms, and operations to the new entity, dubbed TikTok America Inc. Oracle will hold a controlling 40% stake, with additional shares held by General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, and a sovereign wealth-backed vehicle organized by the Trump administration. ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, will retain no equity or board seats in the new venture.
The transaction comes after the U.S. Supreme Court in January 2025 upheld the federal law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a nationwide ban, and after a series of temporary executive extensions granted by President Trump to allow negotiations to conclude. Sources close to the deal said Beijing ultimately acquiesced to the sale after securing assurances that the divestiture would not include TikTok operations in Europe or Southeast Asia, preserving ByteDance's global footprint outside North America.
Oracle CEO Safra Catz said in a statement that the company was 'proud to steward one of the world's most influential platforms into a new chapter rooted in American innovation and data sovereignty.' TikTok America Inc. will be headquartered in Austin, Texas, and is expected to retain the vast majority of its 7,000 U.S. employees. The app's 170 million American users should experience no disruption in service, executives said.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimated that TikTok's U.S. advertising revenue exceeded $16 billion in 2025, making it a formidable competitor to Meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube in the short-form video market. Shares of Oracle rose 4.2% in after-hours trading Friday on news that the deal had closed, while Meta's stock dipped 1.8% as investors recalibrated competitive dynamics in the digital advertising sector.
Privacy advocates and some lawmakers, however, cautioned that the deal's structure still warrants scrutiny. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said he would push for an independent audit of the data migration process to ensure that no residual access to American user information remains with ByteDance or any Chinese government-linked entity. 'The sale is a necessary step, but trust must be verified,' Wyden said in a statement released Saturday morning.