The deal, confirmed by officials on Tuesday, will see TikTok’s U.S. assets transferred to American ownership, easing long-standing concerns about security, tied to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

President Donald Trump, addressing reporters at the White House, said: “We have a deal on TikTok … We have a group of very big companies that want to buy it.” 

He made this statement just a day before the September 17 deadline that could have forced the app, used by 170 million Americans, to shut down. Hours later, the administration extended the deadline until December 16, buying ByteDance 90 more days to finalise the handover.

Under the structure taking shape, ByteDance will hold no more than 19.9% of the new U.S. entity, a level carefully set below the 20% regulatory threshold. The remaining 80% will rest with a consortium of investors that includes Susquehanna International Group (SIG), KKR, General Atlantic, Silver Lake, and new entrants like Andreessen Horowitz. Oracle is also expected to retain its cloud services role with TikTok.

The deal between TikTok and the United States (US) aligns with a model previously applied to the Nippon Steel, U.S. Steel agreement, which allowed Washington to insert a government-appointed board member into the American company.

Sources familiar with the matter say the new TikTok board will also be U.S.-dominated, with one seat designated by the federal government.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC: “This deal wouldn’t be done without proper safeguards for U.S. national security. It seems as though we were also able to meet the Chinese interest.” He added that the commercial terms had largely been settled since March, but tariff disputes stalled Beijing’s approval.

Yet, some questions are still unresolved. ByteDance’s most prized asset, the recommendation algorithm, may remain under its control through a licensing arrangement, as China’s 2020 export laws classify such technology as sensitive intellectual property. 

Critics in Washington warn that leaving ByteDance with control of the algorithm could still allow Beijing indirect influence over U.S. users, sabotaging the purpose of the 2024 divestiture law passed under the Biden administration.

However, Trump has shown little appetite to enforce an immediate ban. His administration has extended the divestiture deadline four times, noting the risk of alienating TikTok’s massive user base and disrupting political engagement on the platform. Trump himself has 15 million followers on TikTok and has openly acknowledged the app’s role in his re-election bid.

A final confirmation of the framework is expected after a call between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. CNBC reports the agreement could close within 30 to 45 days if no last-minute changes emerge.

China’s state media has described the outcome as a “win-win,” emphasising mutual respect and cooperation. But on Capitol Hill, some lawmakers argue that repeated extensions affect the intent of the divestiture law. Others insist that a measured approach prevents unnecessary disruption for millions of Americans who rely on the app daily.

For now, TikTok remains online in the U.S., shielded by a fragile compromise shaped as much by politics as by national security.

The agreement emerged after two days of intense negotiations in Madrid. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the looming September 17 deadline, which could have forced TikTok to halt operations in the U.S., pushed China to consider a deal. 

“They’re interested in Chinese characteristics of the app, which they think are soft power. We don’t care about Chinese characteristics. We care about national security,” Bessent told reporters.

This is the fourth round of high-stakes talks in four months aimed at resolving a string of trade disputes alongside the social media divestiture. Delegations, led by Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, have met in multiple European cities since May, navigating a tense trade environment defined by tariff escalations and the halting of rare earth exports to the U.S.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer described the TikTok agreement as a demonstration of good faith. “It’s no secret that there are serious issues on trade, economics, and national security between the United States and China. To be able to come, sit down, quickly identify the issues, narrow them down to a very granular spot, and be able to come to a conclusion, subject to the leaders’ approval, I mean, that is remarkable,” Greer said.

Bessent acknowledged that China made what he called “very aggressive asks” in trade and technology concessions in exchange for the divestiture. He stressed that national security would not be compromised for a social media platform.

The talks coincided with Washington urging allies to impose tariffs on Chinese imports over Beijing’s purchase of Russian oil, which China denounced as coercion. 

Separately, Beijing announced a preliminary probe into U.S. chipmaker Nvidia for alleged anti-competitive practices, widely interpreted as retaliation for U.S. restrictions on China’s semiconductor sector. Bessent called the timing “poor.”

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has been under pressure since January, when the app faced a potential U.S. ban under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. 

Trump extended the divestiture deadline multiple times. It’s not yet known if this latest announcement will satisfy the law or whether Congress will weigh in.

Trump took to Truth Social to signal optimism about the outcome. “A deal was also reached on a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one!!!”

Negotiators from both sides stopped short of disclosing whether ByteDance would transfer control of TikTok’s underlying technology. Chinese officials indicated that the deal could include licensing intellectual property, including the app’s algorithm, to a U.S. entity.

The Madrid talks are a critical juncture for U.S.-China relations. While TikTok dominates social media culture, the discussions are embedded within concerns over national security, trade, and technology access. 

Per Reuters, the new programme will allow staff to sell their shares back to the company at $200.41 each, an increase of 5.5% from the $189.90 offer made six months ago.

This comes on the back of strong financial results. In the second quarter of 2025, ByteDance reported revenue of about $48 billion, a 25% rise compared with last year. 

That performance pushed the Chinese company ahead of Meta, whose revenue for the same period stood at $42.3 billion. In the first quarter, ByteDance had already overtaken Meta with $43 billion in revenue.

Regular buybacks have become a hallmark of the Beijing-based firm, enabling employees to unlock some of the value of their holdings. 

Unlike other privately held giants such as SpaceX or OpenAI, which depend on external investors to fund similar programmes, ByteDance pays for its own buybacks directly from its balance sheet. That choice is widely read as a sign of financial strength and high profit margins.

Alongside rewarding employees, ByteDance is ploughing money into its artificial intelligence vision. In 2025 alone, the company plans to spend more than $12 billion on AI infrastructure. 

About $5.5 billion is earmarked for chips in China, while $6.8 billion will be used overseas to build large-scale model training capacity powered by Nvidia processors. The company’s chatbot, Doubao, already has 71 million monthly active users as of late 2024, showing growth beyond social media.

Still, ByteDance is still locked in a political case over TikTok’s future in the United States. A law passed in Washington requires the company to sell off TikTok’s U.S. arm or face a nationwide ban. The deadline, now set for September 17, 2025, has been extended several times by President Donald Trump. 

“U.S. buyers were lined up for TikTok and the deadline could be pushed back again,” Trump said last week, though some lawmakers argue that repeated delays are ignoring national security risks.

A joint venture led by Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, KKR, and Andreessen Horowitz is expected to take control of TikTok’s U.S. business. 

Blackstone, however, has withdrawn from the consortium after setbacks in the deal process. People familiar with the matter say TikTok’s U.S. operations are still loss-making, even as the broader ByteDance group stays profitable.

To ease issues among its American workforce, the company has considered launching a standalone app for U.S. users. 

ByteDance did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the buyback.