In the United States, TikTok is owned and run by TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a majority-American company in which Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX each hold 15% and ByteDance keeps 19.9%.
Everywhere else, the app is still provided by TikTok's global companies, so the honest answer to who owns TikTok depends on where your account is registered. This guide sets out the official position as of October 2026, which company you deal with in each region, and which popular claims hold up.
TikTok ownership at a glance
Find your region in the first column. The second column is the company named in the TikTok Terms of Service for that region, which is the business that actually runs your account.
| Where you use TikTok | Company that provides the app | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|
| United States | TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC | A consortium of investors: Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX hold 15% each, ByteDance holds 19.9%, and eight other investors hold the rest |
| European Economic Area and Switzerland | TikTok Technology Limited (Dublin, Ireland) | TikTok's global business, outside the U.S. joint venture |
| United Kingdom | TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited (London) | TikTok's global business, outside the U.S. joint venture |
| Most other countries | TikTok Pte. Ltd. or one of its affiliates | TikTok's global business, outside the U.S. joint venture |
| India | Not available | The Government of India blocked TikTok on June 29, 2020 |
The U.S. joint venture is the only TikTok company that publishes a full investor list. That is why most of this article is about the American structure.
Who owns TikTok in the United States?
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC owns and operates the TikTok app in the United States. It describes itself as a majority-American-owned company governed by a majority-American board.
The joint venture names three managing investors and eight further members of its investor consortium. It publishes percentages only for the managing investors and ByteDance.
| Investor | Stake | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Lake | 15% | Managing investor; Co-CEO Egon Durban sits on the board |
| Oracle | 15% | Managing investor and the venture's Trusted Security Partner |
| MGX | 15% | Managing investor; Chief Strategy and Safety Officer David Scott sits on the board |
| ByteDance | 19.9% | Retained stake |
| Dell Family Office | Not published | Investment firm of Michael Dell |
| Vastmere Strategic Investments, LLC | Not published | Affiliate of Susquehanna International Group |
| Alpha Wave Partners | Not published | Consortium investor |
| Revolution | Not published | Consortium investor |
| Merritt Way, LLC | Not published | Controlled and managed by partners of Dragoneer |
| Via Nova | Not published | Affiliate of General Atlantic |
| Virgo LI, Inc. | Not published | Investment arm of a foundation set up by Yuri and Julia Milner |
| NJJ Capital | Not published | Family office of French entrepreneur Xavier Niel |
Add up the published figures and the three managing investors hold 45% while ByteDance holds 19.9%. The remaining 35.1% is shared by the other eight investors, whose individual stakes are not published.
Who controls TikTok's U.S. operations?
Control is split by function. The joint venture runs everything tied to national security, while TikTok's global U.S. entities keep some commercial work so American users stay connected to the worldwide app.
| Area | Who controls it | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. user data | TikTok USDS Joint Venture | Stored in Oracle's secure U.S. cloud environment under a program audited by third-party experts |
| Recommendation algorithm | TikTok USDS Joint Venture | Retrained, tested and updated on U.S. user data, and secured in Oracle's U.S. cloud |
| Source code and app updates | TikTok USDS Joint Venture, assisted by Oracle | Code is reviewed and validated before release to U.S. users |
| Trust and safety, content moderation | TikTok USDS Joint Venture | Holds decision-making authority for U.S. policies and moderation |
| E-commerce, advertising and marketing | TikTok global's U.S. entities | Also manage global product interoperability |
| Board of directors | Seven members, majority American | Shou Chew, Timothy Dattels, Mark Dooley, Egon Durban, Raul Fernandez, Kenneth Glueck, David Scott |
| Day-to-day leadership | Adam Presser, CEO | Will Farrell is Chief Security Officer |
The same safeguards cover CapCut, Lemon8 and other apps and websites the joint venture runs in the U.S. Shou Chew sits on the board as CEO of TikTok's global business.
Did Oracle buy TikTok?
No. Oracle did not buy TikTok; it owns 15% of the U.S. joint venture, the same stake as Silver Lake and MGX. Oracle is one of three managing investors and the venture's Trusted Security Partner. It hosts U.S. user data and the recommendation algorithm in its U.S. cloud and helps review source code. Oracle executive Kenneth Glueck holds one of the seven board seats.
Who owns ByteDance?
ByteDance is the company that kept 19.9% of TikTok's U.S. business when the joint venture was formed. That is the only ByteDance stake the official TikTok and joint-venture pages put a number on.
Treat ByteDance as a separate company from TikTok's U.S. owner: it is a minority investor in the U.S. joint venture, not its controller. Neither TikTok's site nor the joint venture's site lists ByteDance's own shareholders. Any percentage split of ByteDance's ownership you see quoted comes from ByteDance statements or press reports, not from the TikTok pages that define the 2026 structure.
Does the Chinese government own TikTok?
No government appears on the official list of owners of TikTok's U.S. business. The joint venture's investor list names Silver Lake, Oracle, MGX, ByteDance and eight private investment firms or family offices. ByteDance's 19.9% is held by ByteDance itself. The joint venture's board has seven named directors, a majority of them American, and none represents a government.
For TikTok outside the U.S., the official pages name the operating companies but do not publish their shareholders. A claim about state ownership of those companies needs a primary source before you repeat it.
What changed in January 2026?
The U.S. ownership change took effect on January 23, 2026, when TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was established. It grew out of TikTok's existing U.S. Data Security (USDS) organization.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 25, 2025 | President Trump signed the Executive Order the joint venture was set up to comply with |
| January 23, 2026 | TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was established, its board appointed Adam Presser as CEO, and the investor list was published |
| January 23, 2026 | U.S. data and the recommendation algorithm moved under joint-venture control in Oracle's U.S. cloud |
| July 15, 2026 | Latest update of the U.S. Terms of Service, which name TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC as the company you contract with |
| July 30, 2026 | The joint venture published its first Platform Security and Community Guidelines reports |
For U.S. users the TikTok app, its name, accounts and content stayed the same. What changed is the legal company behind the account and who decides how data, code and moderation are handled.
Why the answer depends on the country
TikTok signs a different contract with users in different regions. The joint venture's ownership applies only to the U.S. app, so a user in Dublin or Singapore is dealing with a different company from a user in Dallas.
| Region | Contracting company | Registered details in the Terms |
|---|---|---|
| United States | TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC | No address given; contact is through the in-Terms feedback form |
| EEA and Switzerland | TikTok Technology Limited | The Sorting Office, Ropemaker Place, Dublin 2, D02 HD23, Ireland; company number 635755 |
| United Kingdom | TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited | 4 Lindsey Street, Barbican, London, EC1A 9HP; company number 10165711 |
| Rest of world | TikTok Pte. Ltd. or one of its affiliates | No address given in the Terms |
| Turkey | TikTok Pte. Ltd. terms, plus a local representative | TikTok İstanbul Dijital Medya ve Reklam Limited Şirketi acts as representative under Law No. 5651 |
| India | None | TikTok has been blocked since a Government of India order on June 29, 2020 |
TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore. Headquarters location does not change which company holds your contract.
How to check which TikTok company runs your account
The Terms of Service for your region name the company you have an agreement with. Reading the first section takes under a minute.
- Open a browser on any device; you do not need to sign in.
- Go to
tiktok.com/legal/page/us/terms-of-service/enin the U.S.,tiktok.com/legal/page/eea/terms-of-service/enin the EEA, Switzerland or UK, ortiktok.com/legal/page/row/terms-of-service/enanywhere else. - Read the opening paragraphs, which state who the agreement is between.
- Confirm the company name: TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC in the U.S., TikTok Technology Limited in the EEA and Switzerland, TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited in the UK, or TikTok Pte. Ltd. elsewhere.
- Check the Last updated date at the top so you know the version is current.
If the name you see is TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, your account falls under the American ownership structure described above.
Common claims about TikTok ownership, checked
| Claim | Verdict | What the official record says |
|---|---|---|
| ByteDance still owns TikTok | Partly true | ByteDance retains 19.9% of the U.S. joint venture. Outside the U.S., TikTok's global companies still provide the app |
| Oracle owns TikTok | False | Oracle holds 15% of the U.S. joint venture and acts as its Trusted Security Partner |
| TikTok in the U.S. is American-owned | True | The joint venture calls itself majority-American-owned with a majority-American board |
| The Chinese government owns 1% of TikTok | Not supported | No government is named among the U.S. joint venture's investors |
| TikTok is banned in the U.S. | False | The joint venture runs the app for more than 200 million Americans |
| The U.S. algorithm is still run from abroad | False for the U.S. app | The joint venture retrains, tests and deploys the U.S. algorithm inside Oracle's U.S. cloud |
| TikTok is banned in India | True | The Government of India blocked TikTok on June 29, 2020 |
TikTok ownership: frequently asked questions
What country owns TikTok in 2026?
TikTok is not listed as owned by any country. In the U.S., it belongs to TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, a majority-American company whose largest named investors are Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX. Outside the U.S., TikTok's global companies, registered in places such as Ireland, the UK and Singapore, provide the app.
What company owns TikTok now?
In the United States, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC owns and operates the app. In the EEA and Switzerland the provider is TikTok Technology Limited, in the UK it is TikTok Information Technologies UK Limited, and elsewhere it is TikTok Pte. Ltd. or one of its affiliates.
Who owns TikTok in the US now?
A consortium led by three managing investors, Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX, each with 15%. ByteDance keeps 19.9%, and eight other investors, including Dell Family Office, General Atlantic's Via Nova and Xavier Niel's NJJ Capital, hold the remaining 35.1% between them.
Does ByteDance still own TikTok?
ByteDance owns 19.9% of TikTok's U.S. business, which makes it a minority investor in the joint venture rather than its owner. TikTok outside the United States is still provided by TikTok's global companies, which sit outside the joint venture.
Who are TikTok's U.S. owners?
The joint venture's investors are Silver Lake, Oracle, MGX, ByteDance, Dell Family Office, Vastmere Strategic Investments, Alpha Wave Partners, Revolution, Merritt Way, Via Nova, Virgo LI and NJJ Capital. Only the stakes of Silver Lake, Oracle, MGX and ByteDance are published.
When did TikTok's ownership change?
TikTok's U.S. ownership changed on January 23, 2026, when TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC was established under the Executive Order President Trump signed on September 25, 2025. Ownership of TikTok in other countries did not change.
Who is the CEO of TikTok in the US?
Adam Presser is CEO of TikTok USDS Joint Venture, appointed by the board on January 23, 2026. Shou Chew remains CEO of TikTok's global business and holds a seat on the joint venture's seven-member board.
How many people use TikTok in 2026?
TikTok USDS Joint Venture says the app serves more than 200 million Americans and 8.5 million U.S. businesses. The figure covers the United States only; the official pages used here do not give a 2026 worldwide user count.
Who will own TikTok in the future?
As of October 2026, the official structure is the one set on January 23, 2026: a majority-American joint venture for the U.S. and TikTok's global companies elsewhere. Any future sale or change would appear first in the joint venture's or TikTok's own announcements.
Bottom line: who owns TikTok in your country?
If you are in the U.S., TikTok is owned by a majority-American joint venture in which ByteDance is a 19.9% minority investor; anywhere else, TikTok's global companies still run the app. The January 2026 deal changed ownership of the U.S. business only. The company named in your region's Terms of Service is the reliable answer to who owns the TikTok you use.
