TikTok’s owner doubles sales to US$35bil despite US ban

ByteDance’s phenomenal growth stems from the global success of teen phenom TikTok and its Chinese twin Douyin, which helped pioneer a new form of social video and undercut rivals from Facebook Inc to Tencent Holdings Ltd. — Reuters

ByteDance Ltd’s revenue more than doubled to about US$35bil (RM141.56bil) last year, defying heightened global competition and Trump’s attempt to ban its signature video service TikTok in the US.

The Chinese company managed to grow operating profit to roughly US$7bil (RM28.31bil) in 2020 from less than US$4bil (RM16.17bil) the prior year, a person familiar with the matter said. That’s in a year when former US president Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok and force its sale to American investors led by Oracle Corp. With Joe Biden in office, the company is moving closer toward listing part of its social media empire in Hong Kong. The Information first reported on ByteDance’s 2020 financials.