TikTok's parent company ByteDance's valuation rose by at least 1/3 to more than $100 billion in a recent non-public stock deal, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter.
This suggests that ByteDance has not been too affected by the new crown virus outbreak and will continue to attract advertisers.
The current valuation of the world's most valuable startup (ByteDance) is up more than 33 percent from about $75 billion two years ago, based on the recent change in price of its stock, the source said. Some of the deals have valued ByteDance at up to $140 billion, one of the sources said.
In recent years, ByteDance has grown into a powerful online force, fueled in part by the TikTok short video platform (the overseas version of Jiyin), which has taken American teens by storm.
No doubt, investors want a piece of the action too. Earlier this week, ByteDance also poached former Disney executive Kevin Mayer to become TikTok's chief operating officer (COO).
ByteDance had considered an IPO (initial public offering) in overseas markets last year, sources familiar with the matter said. It was also recently reported that ByteDance plans to list in Hong Kong. But with ByteDance still well-funded, any plan to go public is a relatively long-term goal, sources familiar with the matter say.
With its latest market valuation, ByteDance is the equivalent of going head-to-head with industry stalwarts like HSBC Holdings Plc or IBM, and going head-to-head with Chinese Internet leaders like Tencent and Alibaba for user traffic and marketing dollars.
In addition, ByteDance is strengthening its operations in new areas such as e-commerce and gaming.
This year, ByteDance kicked off a hiring frenzy with 40,000 new jobs expected by 2020, hoping to catch up with Alibaba's workforce at a time when tech companies around the world are taking vacations or laying off employees.
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