TikTok Strikes Deal to Split Off an American Version, Ending...

TikTok said on Thursday that its Chinese owner, ByteDance, had struck a deal with a group of non-Chinese investors to create a new U.S. TikTok, concluding a six-year legal saga that saw the app banned by Congress, ensnared in politicking between global superpowers and forced into a 14-hour blackout in the United States. Investors including the software giant Oracle; MGX, an Emirati investment firm; and Silver Lake, another investment firm will own more than 80 percent of the new venture. That list also includes the personal investment entity for Michael Dell, the tech billionaire behind Dell Technologies, and other firms, TikTok said. Adam Presser, TikTok’s operations head, will be the chief executive for the U.S. TikTok. The deal is intended to loosen TikTok’s ties to China and address national security concerns that Beijing could use the app to surveil or manipulate its more than 200 million users in the United States.The changes enable “our U.S. users to continue to discover, create, and thrive as part of TikTok’s vibrant global community and experience,” said Shou Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, calling the move “great news.” The agreement, which was hammered out over more than a year, resolves existential questions about TikTok’s future. The app — with its unceasing feed of lip syncs, political endorsements, conspiracy theories and skin care tutorials — would have had to leave the American market if it did not separate from ByteDance.