Chinese video app TikTok could be split off from its parent company ByteDance and sold to investors in the United States in order to shield it from regulatory wrath, according to The Information.
ByteDance is said to be discussing the plan with a small group of its US investors, who would buy a majority stake in the app.
Insiders told The Information that the plan was tentative and preliminary, representing only one possible solution to the threat that US might follow India in banning TikTok entirely.
ByteDance's sale discussions have reportedly included Zhang Yiming, the company's founder and chief executive, and Neil Shen, a board member and a partner at Sequoia Capital's Chinese branch.
The plan would require investors such as Sequoia, General Atlantic and New Enterprise Associates to form a consortium, with ByteDance potentially maintaining a minority stake.
A spokesman for TikTok said: "As we consider the best path forward, ByteDance is evaluating changes to the corporate structure of its TikTok business.
That stood in sharp contrast to TikTok's categorical denial of a similar story last year, when it claimed there had been "no discussions about any partial or full sale".
Separately, TikTok announced Tuesday it plans to hire 10,000 staff in the U.S. over the next three years, despite a possible ban for it.
As TikTok's popularity has soared, the number of full-time TikTok employees in the U.S. has gone from under 500 at the start of the year to almost 1,400 today.
"In 2020, TikTok tripled the number of employees working in the U.S., and we plan to add another 10,000 jobs here over the next three years," CNBC cited a TikTok spokesperson as saying.
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