The idea was to prevent Chinese control of the app for US users, but the deal gives 15% of the new venture to another foreign company: Abu Dhabi-based MGX.

TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance Ltd. have closed a long-awaited deal to transfer parts of their US operations to American investors, securing the popular video app’s future in the US and ...

These apps are betting on low-budget productions, two-minute episodes, scripts adapted from Chinese web novels, and an aggressive marketing strategy. Until last year, Ty Coker, a 28-year-old voice ...