ByteDance, the owner of short-video app TikTok, is ready to launch a brand new worker share buyback that can worth the Chinese know-how large at greater than $330 billion, pushed by continued revenue progress, mentioned three folks with information of the matter.
The firm plans to supply present staff $200.41 per share within the repurchase programme, the folks mentioned, up 5.5% from $189.90 every it provided them about six months in the past, which valued ByteDance at roughly $315 billion.
The buyback is predicted to be launched within the autumn.
The newest buyback at a better valuation will come as ByteDance consolidates its place as the world’s largest social media firm by revenue, with its second-quarter revenue up 25% year-on-year, the folks mentioned.
That leap resulted within the firm’s second-quarter revenue hitting about $48 billion, two of the folks mentioned, most of which is from the Chinese market as it continues to face political stress to divest its U.S. arm.
The revised valuation and the second-quarter revenue progress particulars had not been reported beforehand. The sources declined to be named as they weren’t authorised to debate the knowledge with media.
ByteDance didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
In the primary quarter, ByteDance’s revenue rose to greater than $43 billion, making it the world’s No. 1 social media firm by gross sales, topping Facebook and Instagram owner Meta’s $42.3 billion in that interval.
Both companies maintained gross sales progress above 20% within the second quarter, helped by sturdy promoting demand.
ByteDance’s biannual buybacks enable staff of the privately held firm to money out some holdings and mirror a steadiness sheet strengthened by its increasing home and worldwide companies.
It is more and more frequent for late-stage non-public corporations to conduct common buybacks to retain and supply liquidity to staff with out an exit such as an preliminary public providing.
Many, together with SpaceX and OpenAI, use exterior investor capital to fund these programmes. ByteDance has been an outlier, steadily utilizing its personal steadiness sheet in a sign of economic flexibility and wholesome margins.
ByteDance can be extensively regarded as one among China’s synthetic intelligence leaders, having invested billions of {dollars} in shopping for Nvidia chips, constructing AI-related infrastructure and creating its fashions.
Despite outpacing Meta on revenue this 12 months, ByteDance’s valuation stays lower than a fifth of Meta’s roughly $1.9 trillion market capitalisation: a spot analysts attribute largely to political and regulatory dangers within the U.S.
ByteDance faces intense stress in Washington, the place lawmakers have raised nationwide safety issues over its Chinese possession.
Congress final 12 months handed a regulation requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. belongings by January 19, 2025 or face a nationwide ban of the app, which has 170 million U.S. customers.
U.S. President Donald Trump has granted TikTok a number of reprieves and final week prolonged the deadline for the corporate to divest its U.S. belongings to September 17. He mentioned U.S. patrons have been lined up for TikTok and the deadline could possibly be pushed again once more.
Some lawmakers have criticised the delay, arguing his administration is flouting the regulation and ignoring nationwide safety issues associated to Chinese management over TikTok.
ByteDance is worthwhile as an organization, however TikTok’s U.S. enterprise has been loss-making to this point, mentioned two of the folks. TikTok didn’t reply to a request for remark from Reuters.
If the sale of TikTok’s U.S. enterprise is finalised, it’s anticipated to be owned by a three way partnership fashioned by an American investor consortium and ByteDance, which is able to keep a minority stake.
The consortium, which has emerged as the frontrunner, consists of ByteDance’s present shareholders Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic and KKR as effectively as Andreessen Horowitz, Reuters beforehand reported.
Blackstone lately dropped out of the consortium after a number of delays within the deal’s timeline.
The new ByteDance buyback may assist bolster morale amongst its U.S.-based workers, a few of whom are involved about TikTok’s unsure future.
TikTok has additionally been engaged on getting ready a possible standalone app for U.S. customers, sources instructed Reuters earlier, although it stays unclear if any contingency plan might be finalised amid Trump’s ongoing commerce talks with Beijing.
Published – August 28, 2025 10:18 am IST