TikTok-owner ByteDance said to have hit US$3 billion in net profit last year, showing brisk growth
- ByteDance generated more than US$17 billion in revenue and more than US$3 billion in net profit last year, according to people familiar with the matter
- The revenue for last year is more than double the company’s tally of about US$7.4 billion in 2018
The revenue for last year is more than double the company’s tally of about US$7.4 billion in 2018. The people asked not to be identified because the financial details are private.
ByteDance has emerged as one of the tech industry’s most surprising success stories, an innovative Chinese company that is challenging the global dominance of US internet giants.
TikTok owner’s value said to surpass US$100 billion in private markets
ByteDance representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
That success has come despite American lawmakers raising concerns about privacy and censorship. In a rare bipartisan effort in Washington, Republican Senator Tom Cotton and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last year urged an investigation into TikTok, labelling it a national security threat.
The company had very preliminary discussions about an initial public offering last year, but is in no rush to go public given its financial performance, people have said. It now has more than US$6 billion of cash on hand, the people said.
Bytedance, which is backed by SoftBank Group, General Atlantic and Sequoia, is already the world’s most valuable start-up, according to researcher CB Insights. Some private trades recently valued the Chinese company between US$105 billion and US$110 billion on the secondary markets, Bloomberg News previously reported. It has also traded as high as US$140 billion, one person said, making it one of the most highly valued private companies of all time.
(Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.)
