The Trump administration is set to receive approximately $10 billion in fees from the investors who acquired TikTok’s U.S. operations from Chinese parent ByteDance, according to The Wall Street Journal. The payment comes in addition to the capital invested to create the new entity, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, which now controls TikTok’s American operations.

Investors, including Oracle, private equity firm Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, paid the Treasury Department roughly $2.5 billion when the deal closed in January, with several additional payments scheduled until the $10 billion total is reached, WSJ reports. 

Oracle disclosed its financial position in a quarterly filing on March 11, revealing that the majority of its $2.2 billion in non-marketable investments is tied to the joint venture, in which it holds a 15% stake. Silver Lake and MGX each hold equivalent 15% stakes, while ByteDance retains just under 20% ownership of the U.S. entity.

U.S. President Donald Trump alluded to such a payment in September, stating: “The United States is getting a tremendous fee-plus – I call it a fee-plus – just for making the deal and I don’t want to throw that out the window.”

Deal Structure and Governance

The divestiture followed a national security law signed by former President Joe Biden in 2024, requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. 

Trump used a series of executive actions to extend the divestiture deadline before approving the sale framework in September 2025. Vice President JD Vance has valued the new entity at approximately $14 billion, a figure some technology analysts have characterized as an undervaluation.

The joint venture operates under a seven-member, majority-American board. ByteDance’s global TikTok CEO Shou Chew holds a board seat, while Adam Presser, formerly TikTok’s head of operations, trust and safety, serves as CEO of the U.S. entity. Oracle houses all U.S. user data following the transition and holds a White House-designated role as the platform’s security provider, independently monitoring U.S. operations.

Legal Challenge and Operational Disruptions

The deal faces an active legal challenge. Two California-based software engineers filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on March 5, naming Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi as respondents. 

The petition argues that Trump violated the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act by issuing five divestiture deadline extensions totaling more than 450 days, exceeding the single 90-day extension permitted by the law.

The petitioners further allege that ByteDance retains prohibited operational ties to the U.S. entity, including ownership of TikTok’s recommendation algorithm, which it licenses to the joint venture, continued management of TikTok U.S.’s e-commerce and advertising operations through ByteDance subsidiaries, and Chew’s presence on the U.S. board. The filing seeks a court declaration that the extensions and deal approval were unlawful and directs the attorney general to investigate statutory violations.

On the operational side, the ownership transition has produced service interruptions. Earlier this month, TikTok USDS Joint Venture posted on X that “an issue with an Oracle data center is impacting some parts of the TikTok U.S. user experience,” adding that creators might temporarily experience delays in posting content. The company confirmed full service restoration three days later.