Disclaimer: I am 1 of 3 people on the planet not using TikTok, I know, I live under a rock.
Having said that, I remember when it was shut down for maybe a day or 2 a couple of years ago and the reaction from my wife and daughters made it seem as though the sky was falling and the end was near!
Moving on….
After years of uncertainty, TikTok has secured its future in the US through a new majority American-owned joint venture.
The deal creates an independent entity with a consortium of heavyweight investors including Oracle (Larry Ellison), Silver Lake, Michael Dell’s investment firm, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX. ByteDance retains just 19.9%, while Oracle will handle data storage for 200+ million US users.
Business Implications Worth Watching:
Regulatory risk is now a valuation factor. PE and VC firms evaluating any tech platform with foreign ownership or cross-border data flows need to price in potential forced restructuring. This isn’t theoretical anymore—it’s a line item.
The JV structure becomes a playbook. Expect other foreign-owned platforms facing scrutiny to explore similar models. We’ll likely see more “controlled separation” deals where technology stays intact but governance shifts. This creates M&A opportunities for firms that can navigate complex regulatory structures.
Talent market impact.
When a 200M+ user platform faces existential uncertainty, top talent hedges. Companies competing for the same engineering, product, and data science talent just got a new recruiting advantage, that advantage is now regulatory stability.
In my world of ERP and enterprise tech recruiting, we’re already seeing candidates prioritize companies with clearer regulatory futures.
Cloud infrastructure winners.
Oracle’s role as data custodian isn’t just about storage—it’s about trusted intermediary status. Expect other platforms to need similar third-party validation. This creates new service categories and partnership models.
Portfolio company exposure.
If you’re a fund with portfolio companies processing US user data or operating platforms with international ownership structures, this deal is your early warning system. Time to audit exposure and develop contingency plans before regulators come knocking.
The bigger pattern and concern to be mindful of moving forward is that geopolitical tension is permanently changing how we structure, value, and operate technology businesses. And let’s be honest, those tensions have literally never been higher than they are right now.
The traditional playbook for scaling global platforms just got rewritten.
📰 Source: “TikTok finalises deal to remain in US” – Anna Wise
Disclaimer: I am 1 of 3 people on the planet not using TikTok, I know, I live under a rock.
Having said that, I remember when it was shut down for maybe a day or 2 a couple of years ago and the reaction from my wife and daughters made it seem as though the sky was falling and the end was near!
Moving on….
After years of uncertainty, TikTok has secured its future in the US through a new majority American-owned joint venture.
The deal creates an independent entity with a consortium of heavyweight investors including Oracle (Larry Ellison), Silver Lake, Michael Dell’s investment firm, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX. ByteDance retains just 19.9%, while Oracle will handle data storage for 200+ million US users.
Business Implications Worth Watching:
Regulatory risk is now a valuation factor. PE and VC firms evaluating any tech platform with foreign ownership or cross-border data flows need to price in potential forced restructuring. This isn’t theoretical anymore—it’s a line item.
The JV structure becomes a playbook. Expect other foreign-owned platforms facing scrutiny to explore similar models. We’ll likely see more “controlled separation” deals where technology stays intact but governance shifts. This creates M&A opportunities for firms that can navigate complex regulatory structures.
Talent market impact.
When a 200M+ user platform faces existential uncertainty, top talent hedges. Companies competing for the same engineering, product, and data science talent just got a new recruiting advantage, that advantage is now regulatory stability.
In my world of ERP and enterprise tech recruiting, we’re already seeing candidates prioritize companies with clearer regulatory futures.
Cloud infrastructure winners.
Oracle’s role as data custodian isn’t just about storage—it’s about trusted intermediary status. Expect other platforms to need similar third-party validation. This creates new service categories and partnership models.
Portfolio company exposure.
If you’re a fund with portfolio companies processing US user data or operating platforms with international ownership structures, this deal is your early warning system. Time to audit exposure and develop contingency plans before regulators come knocking.
The bigger pattern and concern to be mindful of moving forward is that geopolitical tension is permanently changing how we structure, value, and operate technology businesses. And let’s be honest, those tensions have literally never been higher than they are right now.
The traditional playbook for scaling global platforms just got rewritten.
📰 Source: “TikTok finalises deal to remain in US” – Anna Wise