TikTok announced Thursday the successful finalization of an ownership restructuring that establishes a majority American-owned entity committed to enhanced advertising transparency practices. The deal emphasizes transparent advertising alongside security measures.
The completed transaction reduces ByteDance’s ownership to a 19.9% minority stake, while American investors collectively control 80.1% of the new US-based company. Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and Michael Dell’s firm create ownership supporting enhanced transparency for advertising practices and political content.
This settlement recognizes that advertising transparency serves both commercial and security interests—transparent advertising practices help users understand who’s trying to influence them, enable researchers to study advertising patterns, and allow detection of foreign influence operations using advertising tools. American ownership enables implementing American advertising transparency standards potentially exceeding other frameworks.
Leadership of the American entity will be entrusted to Adam Presser as CEO, with responsibility for advertising transparency programs. The seven-member board provides oversight ensuring advertising receives appropriate scrutiny. Shou Chew participates within this transparency framework.
The new US entity implements enhanced advertising transparency: public archives of political advertising showing who purchased ads and who they targeted, disclosure requirements for advertisers preventing anonymous influence, spending transparency showing advertising investment patterns, targeting transparency explaining how ads reach users, and researcher access enabling academic study of advertising practices. These transparency measures exceed minimum requirements, providing insight into platform advertising. Political advertising receives particular scrutiny given election security concerns. The recommendation algorithm operates transparently regarding how advertising influences content distribution. Enhanced transparency doesn’t prevent advertising but ensures visibility into who’s advertising and what they’re promoting. Both governments approved this transparency-enhanced approach.