TikTok parent ByteDance is valuing itself around US$300 billion ($403.11 billion), one of the highest valuations ever for the Chinese tech company, even as it fights to maintain its popular social media app’s presence in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The valuation came in a recent buyback offer by ByteDance, the Journal said, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the matter. TikTok would be banned in the US under a federal law unless ByteDance sells the app to an American owner by mid-January.
ByteDance’s valuation has climbed in a series of buybacks, the Journal said, noting a valuation of almost US$225 billion in a tender offer to employees in October 2023.
A December 2023 buyback boosted the valuation to US$268 billion, the Journal said, citing a company email to investors seen by the paper.
President-elect Donald Trump once favored the pending TikTok ban but has more recently suggested it’s a bad idea.
Though any reversal or softening of the ban would be complicated, Trump’s election victory “significantly improves the picture for TikTok — no question about it,” former National Security Agency General Counsel Glenn Gerstell said in an interview with Bloomberg.
