TikTok might still be off-limits as an investment, but its newest plan to survive in the United States is sending ripples through publicly traded tech stocks and the ETFs that hold them.
The short-video platform has reportedly signed binding agreements to create a new U.S.-based joint venture with a consortium of American and global investors, including Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Silver Lake, and Emirati investment firm MGX. The deal, set to close on January 22, dramatically reduces ByteDance's control in an attempt to address longstanding U.S. concerns about data security and foreign influence.
TikTok itself remains private and uninvestable. But the deal shines a spotlight on the publicly listed companies providing its technological backbone—most notably Oracle.
Oracle's Infrastructure Moment
Under the new structure, Oracle will hold a 15% stake in the TikTok U.S. entity, cementing its role as a dominant player in TikTok's American operations. For investors, this isn't just a headline-grabbing moment. It's confirmation of Oracle's expanding footprint in data hosting, cloud infrastructure, and compliance-focused tech solutions—exactly the kind of boring-but-essential work that keeps the internet running.
That narrative fits neatly into several widely held technology ETFs where Oracle already plays a meaningful role. Funds like the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) and the Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) offer exposure to Oracle alongside other U.S. tech giants benefiting from enterprise software and cloud adoption trends.
The TikTok deal also underscores a broader shift that ETF investors have been leaning into: moving away from consumer-facing hype and toward the unglamorous infrastructure that powers it all. Data sovereignty, cloud security, and regulatory alignment have quietly become investable themes in their own right.
ETFs such as the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) and First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY) could also see tailwinds from this shift, as demand grows for U.S.-based cloud services and software companies that users trust to handle their data.
Regulatory Risks Aren't Going Anywhere
Even with the restructuring, regulatory uncertainty remains. ByteDance is set to retain a 19.9% interest in the new entity, with affiliates of current shareholders accounting for another 30.1%. That means scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers isn't disappearing overnight. For ETF investors, though, these concerns fall more into the category of thematic tailwinds than fundamental risks—the kind of policy backdrop that can actually boost demand for compliant, U.S.-based infrastructure players.
The Infrastructure Play Hidden in Plain Sight
TikTok's U.S. deal isn't really a social media trade. It's an infrastructure play dressed up in viral dance videos. And for investors who want exposure to the trend without the geopolitical whiplash of owning individual stocks caught in the crossfire, enterprise-focused tech ETFs may be the closest thing to owning a slice of the action.
Oracle's role in this deal isn't flashy, but that's exactly the point. The companies that build and secure the pipes matter more than ever, and the ETFs that hold them are starting to reflect that reality.