With well over a billion users, TikTok has proven itself to be a highly popular social media platform in recent years. However, unlike other major social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, TikTok is not a US-owned company.
In this article, we will uncover who owns TikTok and what that might mean for the future of the platform in countries like the United States.
Who Owns TikTok?
TikTok is owned by a China-based company called ByteDance. A spokesperson for TikTok has revealed that 60% of TikTok’s parent company is currently owned by international investors, while another 20% is owned by co-founders, and a final 20% is owned by employees.
Furthermore, the government of China owns 1% of a ByteDance subsidiary called Beijing Douyin Information Service Co. This is a company that runs a China-based social media app similar to TikTok but with more refined content allowance and focus. This is due to the version of TikTok we are all familiar with not being allowed within mainland China.
Founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming, ByteDance has developed several different social media platforms beyond just TikTok. Altogether, these platforms have nearly two billion active users.
Even though TikTok is not owned by a US company, it does have one of its headquarters in Los Angeles, CA, with another in Singapore. Additionally, 60% of its board members are from the US. TikTok’s current CEO is Singaporean Shou Zi Chew.
Will TikTok Be Banned in the US?
Since TikTok is not owned by a US company, it has fallen under greater scrutiny in recent times. Joe Biden has signed a bill that mandated ByteDance sell the US-based operations of the platform to an approved buyer, or end up becoming banned within the United States. The date given to ByteDance to do so is January 19th, 2025.
Currently, the company is fighting to keep TikTok as-is, and if successful will ensure that holds true. However, if the US Senate’s ruling on April 23rd, 2024 wins out, ByteDance will have less than a year to sell the stake it has or see TikTok removed from app stores.
With nearly 200 million users in the US, there are advocacy groups emphasizing that such a move would end up going against the First Amendment of the Constitution. Additionally, it is argued that such an extreme move cannot be commercially or technologically done in a reasonable manner. Since there is no precedent for such a wide-reaching app being banned in the US, it is likely there will be a resolution or compromise prior to the January 19th date.
Conclusion
The question of “Who owns TikTok?” is not as cut and dry as it may have seemed. Now that you know the finer details of the company behind the popular social media platform, as well as the regulatory hurdles it has, you can see the march of progress within the social media landscape has its own challenges. Nevertheless, TikTok has proven time and time again to be a monumental success within every market it has launched, and will likely continue to do so into the future.
