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TikTok: ByteDance Calls Reports It's Considering Selling App "Untrue"

ByteDance is denying a report from earlier this week that it's considering selling its stake in TikTok, calling the claim "untrue."

In one of the rare instances of things actually moving quickly in Washington, D.C., it took less than a week for a muchly-needed foreign aid bill to move from the U.S. Senate to the House of Representatives and to President Joseph Biden's desk for a signature. Along with $95B in aid to Ukraine, Israel & Gaza, and Taiwan & the Indo-Pacific, the bill also put TikTok owner ByteDance on the clock – it now has 9 months (possibly 12, at the POTUS's discretion) to divest from the company or see the social media service banned in the U.S. over security concerns. With the company promising a legal fight on constitutional grounds, ByteDance is pushing back on a report that surfaced on Thursday that it was seriously considering selling its majority stake in TikTok.

The report cites anonymous sources who claim ByteDance "is internally exploring scenarios for selling a majority stake in TikTok's U.S. business, preferably to companies outside the tech industry, and without the algorithm that recommends videos to TikTok users." First reported by The Wall Street Journal, ByteDance shared with the company-owned Chinese news platform Toutiao that the reports "are untrue." Just to offer some financial perspective, the Financial Times notes that TikTok brought in $16B in revenue in 2023 – in the U.S. alone (with the overall business valued up to $150B).

"This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court. We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation. This ban would devastate seven million businesses and silence 170 million Americans. As we continue to challenge this unconstitutional ban, we will continue investing and innovating to ensure TikTok remains a space where Americans of all walks of life can safely come to share their experiences, find joy, and be inspired," shared the company in a tweet/x posted shortly after news of President Biden signing the bill into law was announced. Here's a look at what TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had to say on the matter:

@tiktoknewsroomResponse to TikTok Ban Bill♬ original sound – TikTok Newsroom

Different from last month's "Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" that was passed by the House and sent to the Senate, the package that was signed into law saw the move against the social media app attached to important foreign aid support. In addition, some concerns about that bill were addressed in what was passed – including giving ByteDance a year to find a new TikTok owner, an increase from the previous six-month time limit. According to TikTok, approximately 60% of ByteDance is held by "global institutional investors," which include BlackRock, General Atlantic, Susquehanna International Group, and Sequoia – with 20% owned by the company's Chinese founders and 20% owned by other employees.

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