ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin, saw revenues last year more than double to at least $35 billion, according to figures quoted by Bloomberg and as much as $37 billion, according to media outlet The Information, which first reported on the financials of ByteDance, a privately-held company. Both outlets cited unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
A healthy growth of ad sales by its Chinese apps was responsible for the revenue growth, offsetting the impact from India’s ban on TikTok and the US’s threat of a ban. The Chinese tech titan also recorded over $7 billion in operating profit during the same period, increasing from the less than $4 billion generated the year before.
TikTok has grown in importance as a marketing tool for fashion and beauty brands during the pandemic, during which it has been enthusiastically embraced by a valued cohort of Gen-Z consumers.