TikTok parent ByteDance Ltd. is valued at about $300 billion, one of the largest valuations ever for a Chinese tech company, even as it struggles to maintain a presence for the popular social media app in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The valuation came in a recent takeover bid by ByteDance, the Journal said, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the matter. TikTok would be banned in the US under federal law if ByteDance does not sell the app to an American owner by mid-January.
ByteDance’s valuation has risen in a series of acquisitions, the Journal said, noting a nearly $225 billion valuation in its October 2023 tender offer to employees. An acquisition in December 2023 raised the valuation to $268 billion, the Journal said, citing a company email. to investors who have seen the papers.
President-elect Donald Trump once supported the pending TikTok ban, but he has more proposed recently it’s a bad idea. While rolling back or relaxing the ban would be complicated, Trump’s election victory “significantly improves TikTok’s picture — there’s no doubt about it,” former National Security Agency adviser Glenn Gerstell said in an interview with Bloomberg.
