TikTok parent ByteDance hits $330B valuation with new employee buyback as revenue surpasses Meta

ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok, is launching another employee share buyback that lifts its private valuation above $330 billion. The move comes as the company extends its lead in global social media revenue, outpacing Meta in quarterly sales.

The Beijing-based company is offering employees $200.41 a share in the program, according to people familiar with the matter. That’s up from $189.90 just six months ago, when ByteDance was valued at around $315 billion. The buyback is expected to roll out this autumn, giving staff fresh liquidity and underscoring the company’s financial strength, Reuters reported.

ByteDance has quickly grown into the largest social media company by revenue. In the second quarter, sales surged 25% year-over-year to about $48 billion, the people said, topping Meta’s $42.3 billion for the same period. Most of that income still comes from China, even as TikTok faces mounting political pressure in the U.S. Reuters added:

“The revised valuation and the second-quarter revenue growth details had not been reported previously. The sources declined to be named as they were not authorized to discuss the information with media.”

The first quarter already showed momentum, with revenue hitting more than $43 billion. That puts ByteDance on pace for back-to-back quarters of 20%+ growth — numbers rarely seen outside the strongest years of Silicon Valley’s internet giants.

Unlike many late-stage startups that rely on outside investors to fund employee share sales, ByteDance has consistently used its own cash. That approach highlights a balance sheet with unusual flexibility and margins few private companies can match. SpaceX and OpenAI run similar buyback programs but often depend on new capital injections.

ByteDance is also the latest in a string of tech companies leaning on buybacks to reward and retain staff. Just last week, OpenAI employees announced plans to sell $6 billion worth of shares at a $500 billion valuation, a move that would make the ChatGPT-maker the world’s most valuable startup.

The company has simultaneously poured billions into artificial intelligence, acquiring Nvidia chips, building data centers, and developing its own models. Analysts see ByteDance not just as a social media powerhouse but as one of China’s most aggressive AI players, building an infrastructure footprint that rivals the West’s best-funded startups.

Even with that growth, ByteDance’s valuation remains a fraction of Meta’s $1.9 trillion market cap — a gap investors attribute largely to regulatory risk. In Washington, lawmakers continue to press ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations, citing national security concerns.

Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s American business by January 19, 2025. President Donald Trump has extended the deadline to September 17 and hinted at more extensions, while confirming U.S. buyers are waiting. A consortium including Susquehanna International Group, General Atlantic, KKR, and Andreessen Horowitz has emerged as the frontrunner, while Blackstone has dropped out after delays.

Despite TikTok’s global success, its U.S. business remains unprofitable, two people familiar with the figures said. That uncertainty has left ByteDance working to shore up morale at home with buybacks, while balancing political headwinds abroad. Employees in the U.S. have voiced concern about TikTok’s future, though the latest valuation bump may offer some reassurance.

Reuters has reported that TikTok explored building a standalone app for American users as a backup plan, but whether such a project advances will likely hinge on trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

For now, ByteDance is profitable, flush with cash, and growing at a pace unmatched by its rivals. Whether it can preserve TikTok’s 170 million U.S. users in the middle of a geopolitical storm is the bigger test ahead.