❓WHAT HAPPENED: The sale of the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok to a consortium of U.S.-led investors appears to still be in limbo as of January 22, 2026—the latest Trump administration-mandated deadline for the deal to close.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Trump administration, ByteDance, TikTok, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chinese regulators, Oracle, Silver Lake, MGX, and other investors.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The deadline for the sale of TikTok to close is Thursday, January 22, 2026.
💬KEY QUOTE: “China’s position on TikTok has been consistent and clear. I have nothing new to share at the moment.” — Chinese Embassy spokesman
🎯IMPACT: With the deadline reached, it remains unclear whether the sale of TikTok has been approved by Chinese regulators, despite ByteDance clearing the sale and TikTok signing a binding agreement with investors.
Thursday marks the latest U.S. federally mandated deadline for TikTok—the popular video social media app owned by the Chinese company ByteDance—to be spun off and sold to a consortium of American investors led by Oracle and Silver Lake. While both the Trump administration and ByteDance executives have signed off on the Chinese company’s divestment from TikTok and the app’s sale, it remains unclear whether Chinese regulators in Beijing have given final clearance to the deal.
Still, a memo circulated by ByteDance executives last December indicated that the purchase of TikTok was set to close this week. U.S. President Donald J. Trump had previously extended the deadline for the purchase or ban of the app to January 22, 2026—though if the sale were to be approved several days after, it is unlikely to scuttle the agreement.
In December, TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, stated that the company had signed a binding agreement with its investors, though he acknowledged that Chinese regulators had yet to approve the purchase, noting, “there was more work to be done.” Under the purchase agreement, which forms a joint venture, ByteDance will still control just shy of 20 percent of TikTok, while the investor consortium led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and the United Arab Emirates’ MGX investment firm will each control 15 percent of the company’s shares.
Importantly, the deal creates a new and independent entity, “governed by a new seven-member majority-American board of directors,” that will oversee TikTok’s data, algorithms, and content moderation. However, it is still not known whether TikTok’s original content algorithm—which proved a significant sticking point during initial negotiations for both ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)—is being relinquished to the U.S. investor consortium.
The Chinese Embassy in the United States was cryptic on the deal as of the January 22 deadline, with a spokesman stating, “China’s position on TikTok has been consistent and clear. I have nothing new to share at the moment.”
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