The popular social media platform TikTok has finalized an ownership restructuring that establishes a majority American-owned entity with trust and safety leadership under Adam Presser, who brings extensive experience in platform moderation and user protection. The announcement Thursday emphasizes the company’s commitment to responsible content governance.
ByteDance, the Chinese technology conglomerate that created TikTok, has agreed to reduce its ownership stake to 19.9% in the American entity, while US investors assume controlling interest with 80.1% of the company. Three major investors share equal ownership at 15% each: Oracle, the enterprise technology giant; Silver Lake, a prominent private equity firm specializing in technology investments; and MGX, an investment entity from Abu Dhabi. Michael Dell’s investment firm provides additional American capital.
This resolution addresses legislation enacted by Congress in 2024 that effectively banned TikTok unless it separated from Chinese ownership, reflecting bipartisan concern about national security risks and content integrity. The Supreme Court affirmed the legislation’s validity in January 2025, setting legal parameters for compliance. President Trump utilized executive authority to postpone enforcement while facilitating negotiations.
Leadership of the American entity will be entrusted to Adam Presser as CEO, a choice that emphasizes trust and safety given his background as TikTok’s former general manager and global head of operations, trust and safety. His experience managing content moderation systems, user safety protocols, and platform integrity initiatives positions him to lead the American entity with focus on responsible governance. The company will be overseen by a seven-member board of directors, deliberately designed with an American majority and composed of cybersecurity and national security experts. Current global TikTok CEO Shou Chew will participate as a board member.
The new US entity commits to implementing rigorous safeguards for American users, building on Presser’s trust and safety expertise with comprehensive data protection protocols, secured algorithms, enhanced content moderation systems that reflect best practices in platform governance, and software integrity measures. The platform’s recommendation algorithm will be completely retrained using exclusively US user data, with ongoing testing and refinement. Both US and Chinese government officials have approved the arrangement, with President Trump publicly thanking Chinese President Xi Jinping for his role in facilitating the deal.