TikTok announced on Thursday, January 22, that it’s set up a joint venture to keep the app running in the US. The next day, President Donald Trump jumped on Truth Social and said, “The company will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World.”
No word yet from the Chinese government about the deal. But according to Semafor, both the US and Chinese governments have already given it the green light, even though CNBC points out that China hasn’t said anything in public.
Along with the news, TikTok named Adam Presser, who used to run operations at TikTok, as CEO of the new TikTok USDS Joint Venture.
Shou Chew will stay on as TikTok’s global CEO but now also serves as a director for the new venture. After years of back-and-forth and questions about TikTok’s future in the US, the deal is finally happening.
Who is Adam Presser?
He went to Harvard-Westlake School, then picked up both his BA and MA from Yale. On top of that, he earned an MBA and a JD from Harvard. The guy’s got credentials.
Presser started as a senior director at Ticketmaster from 2008 to 2010. Then he moved to Warner Bros, where he climbed from vice president to senior vice president over about five years.
By late 2020, he was EVP at WarnerMedia International. In April 2022, he joined TikTok as VP and chief of staff, reporting directly to the CEO.
Last year, he ran operations, and by March 2024, he was handling both operations and trust & safety. He’s based out of Los Angeles. Now, Adam Presser steps in as the CEO of TikTok’s new US-controlled joint venture.
What is all about the new TikTok deal?
TikTok states that the new venture, which will be located in the US, will be overseen by a seven-member board of directors, the majority of whom are Americans.
The board members with the CEO Shou Chew are: TPG Global Timothy Dattels, Susquehanna International Group Mark Dooley, Silver Lake co-CEO Egon Durban, DXC Technology CEO Raul Fernandez, Oracle Kenneth Glueck, and MGX David Scott.
The deal is aimed at alleviating the anxieties of the US government, because the parent organisation of TikTok, ByteDance, will have only 20 per cent of the new venture in the US.
According to Business Insider, the major ownerships of TikTok include tech firm Oracle, a private investment firm Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, all of which own a share of 15 per cent of the new company.
The company explained that TikTok Global in the US will deal with global product interoperability, as well as some business operations, such as e-commerce, advertising, and marketing, as quoted by CNBC. Interoperability will allow the Joint Venture to give US users a global experience on TikTok, which will ensure that US creators are found and businesses can operate globally.
How did Trump react to the TikTok deal?
Trump praised the deal in a Truth Social Post and said on Friday (January 23) it was a very dramatic, final, and beautiful conclusion.
It will now belong to a company of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be a significant Voice, he said.
Trump also thanked the Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was cooperative in his administration. I would also like to thank President Xi of China to collaborate with us and, finally, grant the Deal. He might have done it the opposite way but instead he did not and is thanked because of it he said.
The TikTok acquisition is something that has been a year old. In January 2025, Tik Tok became inaccessible to millions of US users at the dawn of the presidency of Trump. The company, however, reversed its services to the US the following day when Trump claimed that he would not enforce the ban.
Trump even hinted that the tech giants such as Elon Musk, CTO of Oracle, Larry Ellison, could buy the app. He also suggested the same on the tariff reduction on China in case there could be an agreement over Tik Tok.
Boeing A decision directed by a national security law of the Biden administration to sell its operations in the US or risk a ban was issued against the ByteDance. Nevertheless, the rule was not implemented as Trump signed executive orders postponing it.
