Abu Dhabi’s MGX Joins TikTok US Deal with 15% Stake
Oracle and Silver Lake also hold 15% stake in the majority American-owned joint venture which will secure data; ByteDance retains 19.9% ownership
TikTok secures US data deal
ByteDance has finalised a deal to establish a majority American-owned joint venture that will secure US data. As a result, TikTok can avoid a ban that threatened to wipe out the short-video app used by more than 200 million Americans.
The TikTok USDS Joint Venture has three managing investors Silver Lake, Oracle, and the Abu Dhabi-based MGX each holding 15 per cent. Meanwhile, the joint venture is 80.1 per cent owned by American and other global investments. Therefore, the new structure aims to protect US user data, apps, and algorithms through stronger privacy and cybersecurity measures.
ByteDance will retain 19.9 per cent of the joint venture. Additionally, the joint venture was established in compliance with the Executive Order signed on September 25, 2025.
The full consortium of investors includes Dell Family Office; Vastmere Strategic Investments, LLC; Alpha Wave Partners; Revolution; Merritt Way, LLC; Via Nova; Virgo LI, Inc.; and NJJ Capital.
MGX was established by Mubadala and G42. In addition, MGX has major partnerships with Microsoft and BlackRock. MGX has also invested in xAI and OpenAI.
US-led board to govern venture
The joint venture, built on the foundation of the TikTok US Data Security (USDS) organisation, will operate as an independent entity. Specifically, it will be governed by a seven-member, majority-American board of directors.
The venture will retrain, test and update TikTok’s content recommendation algorithm on US user data. In addition, US user data and the algorithm will be protected in Oracle’s secure US cloud environment. The joint venture will run a comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity program that is audited and certified by third-party cybersecurity experts.
