Washington and Beijing’s TikTok deal will hand ByteDance roughly 50% of the app’s American profits despite US shareholders owning the majority of the business, according to people familiar with the talks, reports the Financial Times. Five people briefed on the deal, which the White House said valued the spin-off at $14 billion, said that valuation related to a new joint venture between ByteDance and new investors to operate the app’s American operation. But they said additional sources of US-related income will flow to the Chinese parent company.
“It’s a perfect deal, control belongs to US capital, [but a] majority of profit goes back to ByteDance,” said one of the people, an investor in ByteDance. The financial details suggest that the modest valuation the White House gave for the popular American arm of the short video app is partly explained by ByteDance’s larger claim on future US earnings.
ByteDance’s international revenues were worth $40 billion of the Chinese’s company overall 2024 sales of $155 billion, with its US TikTok arm providing the largest chunk of its overseas business.