How to Invest in ByteDance, the Company That Owns TikTok

ByteDance is the Chinese company that owns TikTok, the 5th most popular social media platform in the world.

It took just 9 months for TikTok to reach 100 million users, an unprecedented rate of growth. It's now used by more than 1.5 billion people each month, one of just 7 social media apps with more than 1 billion monthly active users.

The others are:

• Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, owned by Meta (META), a $1.9 trillion company.
• YouTube, owned by Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), valued at $2.05 trillion.
• WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings (TCEHY), a Chinese technology company worth $595.27 billion.

This is an incredible list to be a part of. 

And while you couldn't have invested in Meta, Google, or Tencent before their IPOs, there is a way to invest in ByteDance before it goes public.

Here's how to invest in TikTok-parent ByteDance before its IPO.

Can you buy ByteDance stock?

ByteDance is a private company. There is no ByteDance or TikTok symbol, and you cannot buy shares of it in your typical brokerage account.

Although the company had plans to IPO on either the NYSE or Nasdaq exchanges in 2021, this move was blocked by Chinese regulators.

Since then, its management has paused all conversations of an IPO.

ByteDance is now on pace to generate nearly $200 billion in annual revenue, which makes it the world's largest social media company by revenue. Yes, ahead of even Meta (~$190 billion run rate).

Despite this, ByteDance's most recent share buyback valued the company at $330 billion (August 2025), less than a fifth of Meta's $1.9 trillion market capitalization.

The gap is largely attributed to political and regulatory risks in the U.S., where lawmakers have raised national security concerns over its Chinese ownership and may force it to divest TikTok's U.S. assets (more on this below).

Although the future of TikTok in the U.S. is uncertain, ByteDance as a whole appears to be years away from a public offering.

Even after the TikTok issues are settled, it will likely wait until the business environment in China becomes friendlier and the company is allowed to list on a U.S. exchange.

Fortunately, you don't need to wait for it to go public to invest in it.

How to invest in ByteDance now

How you can invest in ByteDance depends on whether you're an accredited investor or a retail investor.

Are you an accredited or retail investor?

You qualify as an accredited investor if you meet one of the following criteria:

• You have an annual income of $200,000 individually or $300,000 jointly
• Your net worth exceeds $1,000,000, excluding your primary residence

If you're an accredited investor, you can invest directly in ByteDance (more info below). If you don't qualify as an accredited investor, skip to the second section, which is for retail investors.

1. How to buy ByteDance stock as an accredited investor

Hiive is a secondary marketplace platform where accredited investors can buy shares of private, VC-backed companies.

There are thousands of private companies available for investment on Hiive, including ByteDance:

There are 4 listings of ByteDance stock available on Hiive right now. Shares are trading at $181.62.

Each listing on Hiive is made by a different seller who sets their own asking price and quantity of shares available. Sellers may be current or former employees, venture capitalists, or angel investors.

Buyers can accept the asking prices as listed or place bids and negotiate directly with sellers.

After registering, you can see the complete order book for every company on the platform. That includes all bids and asks, as well as the price of every recently completed order.

Hit the button below to see the order book for ByteDance:

Register for Hiive

2. How to invest in ByteDance as a retail investor

While you may not be able to directly invest in TikTok/ByteDance, you can still gain exposure, albeit in a roundabout way.

TikTok is 100% owned and controlled by ByteDance, a private Chinese technology company. ByteDance, however, has a number of outside investors, two of which are public companies.

a) Invest in Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR)

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is a global investment firm headquartered in New York.

KKR participated in ByteDance's Series E funding round in October 2018. In total, 12 investors invested $3 billion at a valuation of $72 billion. Then, in December 2020, KKR participated in another round that raised $2 billion at a $178 billion valuation.

If we assume KKR invested $250 million at $72 billion in 2018 and $500 million at $178 billion in 2020, its stake has grown to around $2.1 billion based on the current valuation, more than 2.5x its total investment of $750 million.

KKR is a $124.4 billion company, so this $2.1 billion stake in ByteDance represents 1.7% of its total business. If you're considering buying KKR to own ByteDance, you should make sure you like the other 98.3% of the company as well.

b) Invest in SoftBank Group (SFTBY)

SoftBank Group (SFTBY) is a Japanese technology and telecom conglomerate best known for its investment arm, which focuses on disruptive technology.

Its list of previous investments includes Alibaba (BABA), Nvidia (NVDA), Uber (UBER), Slack, and more.

SoftBank participated in the same two funding rounds as KKR but sold a slice of its holding at a valuation of $220 billion in March 2023.

If we assume it still holds a $1.2 billion stake, ByteDance makes up 0.8% of its market capitalization ($153.4 billion).

Similar to KKR, you could invest in SoftBank to gain some exposure to ByteDance, but you should also do your due diligence on the other 99.2% of its portfolio.

Who owns TikTok stock?

TikTok is owned 100% by ByteDance, a privately held Chinese technology company.

In addition to TikTok, ByteDance owns a number of other social media and entertainment apps and platforms, including:

• Douyin (this is the Chinese version of TikTok, which ranks #11 on the list of largest social media platforms)
• Lark
• Toutiao
• CapCut
• Nuverse
• Xigua Video
  

As of November 2021, ByteDance was partially owned by global investors (60%), employees (20%), and co-founders Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo (20%).

Its list of global investors includes Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, and Hillhouse Capital Group.

TikTok sale

As mentioned above, U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern that ByteDance may put sensitive user information into the hands of the Chinese government.

They also worry that the algorithms in the app may be tweaked to influence public opinion in favor of adversarial nations.

Those fears led to the U.S. prohibiting TikTok from being installed on any federal government devices in 2020, and 34 out of 50 states also banned their employees from using the app on government-issued cell phones.

TikTok has also been banned from government devices in many European countries.

At the same time, another bill sought to ban TikTok in the U.S. altogether if it did not sell the app's U.S. operations to a U.S. company.

ByteDance initially agreed to sell a small portion of TikTok to a U.S. company, but later filed a lawsuit against the order claiming, it was motivated by President Trump's efforts to boost re-election support through protectionist trade policies aimed at China.

In December 2020, a federal judge sided with ByteDance and issued a preliminary injunction to block the executive order.

Two years later, in December 2022, President Biden once again banned the use of TikTok on government devices.

Then, in early 2024, another bill was passed that would ban the use of TikTok nationwide if it did not make a qualified divestiture.

The ban went into effect on January 19, 2025, but hours after the suspension of services, President-elect Trump said he would extend the period of time ByteDance had to divest TikTok before its nationwide ban took effect by another 90 days.

In March 2025, President Trump confirmed that his administration was in discussions with four potential buyers for TikTok's U.S. business, including Oracle (ORCL) and a consortium led by Frank McCourt.

At the time, analysts estimated TikTok's U.S. operations could be valued at up to $50 billion.

On April 4, one day before the extension was set to expire, President Trump signed another order delaying the ban by another 75 days.

On June 19, President Trump signed a third order to delay the ban for 90 days.

It's unclear what will happen next, but given these ongoing concerns, it's no surprise that ByteDance's valuation has fallen from its peak of over $400 billion in 2021 to about $330 billion today (more on that below).

How to buy the ByteDance IPO

ByteDance, China's largest startup, was rumored to have been near an IPO on the NYSE or Nasdaq back in 2021 before Chinese regulators stalled its progress.

Since then, its IPO plans have been on ice, and management has made no indication of when it will go public.

If/when ByteDance goes public, you'll be able to look up its stock symbol and buy it in your brokerage account. If you don't have a brokerage account, we recommend Public.

On Public, you can invest in stocks, ETFs, Treasuries, and cryptocurrencies, all on one of the most well-designed investing platforms.

ByteDance valuation chart

To date, ByteDance has raised $7.44 billion over 13 rounds.

ByteDance's valuation peaked at over $400 billion in 2021 when rumors of an upcoming IPO were circulating, but the listing was later quashed by Chinese regulators.

The company has run regular share buybacks since 2017, primarily as a way to provide liquidity for investors and employees.

In its most recent buyback, ByteDance valued itself at $330 billion in August 2025, up ~5% from the $315 billion valuation it gave itself in March 2025's program.

Including its share repurchases, here's a look at its valuation history:

How much is TikTok worth?

Remember, TikTok is just one of ByteDance's subsidiaries, all of which contribute to its $330 billion valuation.

TikTok generated $16 billion in revenue in 2023, or 13% of ByteDance's total revenue.

However, given TikTok's growth, number of users, and global reach, I estimate TikTok accounts for ~40% of ByteDance's total valuation. This would imply TikTok is worth around $130 billion.