ByteDance
ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Haidian, Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands.[6]
Native name
字节跳动有限公司
13 March 2012
- Zhang Yiming
- Liang Rubo
- Haidian, Beijing, China (operational)[1]
- Cayman Islands (legal)[1]
- Zhang Yiming (Founder & Chairman)
- Liang Rubo (Founder & CEO)
- Erich Andersen (global GC)[2]
- Kelly Zhang (CEO of ByteDance China)[3]
- Lidong Zhang (Chairman of ByteDance China)[3]
- Shou Zi Chew (CEO of TikTok)
US$85.2 billion (2022)[4]
US$2 billion (2022)[4]
c. 150,000 (2023)[5]
- Moonton
- Nuverse
字节跳动
Zìjié Tiàodòng
Zìjié Tiàodòng
ㄗˋ ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄊㄧㄠˋ ㄉㄨㄥˋ
Tzu4-chieh2 T'iao4-tung4
Zìh-jié Tiào-dòng
Founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo and a team of others in 2012, ByteDance developed the video-sharing apps TikTok and Douyin. The company is also the developer of the news platform Toutiao.
ByteDance has attracted legislative and media attention in several countries over security, surveillance, and censorship concerns.[7][8][9]
Corporate affairs[edit]
Funding and ownership[edit]
ByteDance is backed financially by Jeff Yass' Susquehanna International Group, Primavera Capital Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, and Hillhouse Capital Group.[30][31][32] As of March 2021, it was estimated to be valued at $250 billion in private trades.[33]
ByteDance's owners include its founders and Chinese investors (20%), global investors (60%), and employees (20%).[34] In 2021, the state-owned China Internet Investment Fund purchased a 1% stake in ByteDance's main Chinese subsidiary, Beijing ByteDance Technology (formerly Beijing Douyin Information Service), as a golden share investment[35][36][37] and seated Wu Shugang, a government official with a background in government propaganda, as one of the subsidiary's board members.[38][39][40]
In 2023, G42 purchased a stake in ByteDance.[41]
Management[edit]
Zhang Yiming was ByteDance's chairman and CEO from its founding in 2012 until 2021, when co-founder Liang Rubo took over as CEO.[42]
On 19 May 2020, ByteDance and Disney released an announcement that Kevin Mayer, head of Disney's streaming business, would join ByteDance. From June 2020 to his resignation 26 August 2020, Mayer served as the CEO of TikTok and the COO of ByteDance, reporting directly to the company CEO Zhang Yiming.[43][44] In 2021, Shou Zi Chew, former CFO of Xiaomi, took over as TikTok CEO.[45]
In 2014, ByteDance established an internal Chinese Communist Party (CCP) committee.[46] The company's vice president, Zhang Fuping, serves as the company's CCP Committee Secretary.[47][48] According to a report submitted to the Australian Parliament, Zhang Fuping stated that ByteDance should "transmit the correct political direction, public opinion guidance and value orientation into every business and product line."[49][50]
Partnerships[edit]
ByteDance's China business has a strategic partnership with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security for the ministry's public relations efforts.[51] The partnership also said that ByteDance would work with the Ministry of Public Security in cooperation on unspecified "offline activities."[52][53]
In 2018, ByteDance helped to establish the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, an initiative backed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Beijing municipal government.[49][54]
In 2019, ByteDance formed joint ventures with Beijing Time, a publisher controlled by the Beijing municipal CCP committee, and with Shanghai Dongfang, a state media firm in Shanghai.[55][56] In 2021, ByteDance announced that its partnership with Shanghai Dongfang had never been in operation and was disbanded.[57]
In June 2022, ByteDance partnered with Shanghai United Media Group to launch a plan to develop domestic and foreign influencers.[58]
Lobbying[edit]
ByteDance's lobbying efforts in the U.S. are led by Michael Beckerman.[59][60] According to disclosures filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, ByteDance has lobbied the United States Congress, White House, Department of Commerce, Department of State, and the Department of Defense.[61][62] As of July 2023, ByteDance has spent more than $17.7 million in lobbying since it first reported payments to federal lobbyists in 2019.[63] In 2023, the company spent $8.7 million on lobbying.[64]
ByteDance's lobbying has included hiring K&L Gates, LGL Advisors, and other firms to influence bills such as the United States Innovation and Competition Act, American Innovation and Choice Online Act, and the annual National Defense Authorization Act.[60]
ByteDance's lobbying team also includes former US Senators Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.), and former US Representatives Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) and Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.).[65]
In the run-up to the 2024 United States Senate elections, ByteDance launched a $2.1 million ad campaign targeting US Senate districts with vulnerable Democrats.[66]
Products[edit]
CapCut[edit]
First released to the public in April 2020, CapCut is a video editing software made for beginners.[67] As of March 2023, CapCut has more than 200 million active users each month, and according to The Wall Street Journal, it was downloaded more than the TikTok app in March 2023.[68] In March 2023, it was the second-most downloaded app in the U.S. behind that for Chinese discount retailer, Temu.[27]
