Tiktok is not publically traded yet; therefore the price of a Tiktok share is zero and it doesn’t have any stock symbol.
Key Takeaways
- The IPO of Tiktok hasn’t launched yet, therefore Tiktok doesn’t have a stock symbol and the price of Tiktok shares is zero
- ByteDance is the parent company of Tiktok and it is also a private company
- SoftBank (SFTBY) and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) are the two main investors of ByteDance
- Till now ByteDance has raised a total of $9.4B in funding from 56 investments
Company Overview: Tiktok
Released by ByteDance in September 2016; Tiktok is a very popular video-sharing and hosting service. Tiktok is owned by ByteDance which is a chines company. In China, Tiktok is known as Douyin. You can upload short videos with durations from 15 seconds to ten minutes in Tiktok. Tiktok has apps for both Android and iOS platforms. Tiktok has 1.39 billion users around the world. There are only three social media platforms in the world that have more users than Tiktok and they are Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. You will be surprised to know that Tiktok is available in more than 40 languages. In October 2020, Tiktok exceeded 2 billion mobile downloads on Android and iOS platforms.
Key Information of Tiktok
| Company Name | TikTok Pte. Ltd. |
| Country | China |
| Operating System | iOS, iPad, Android |
| Industry | Video sharing |
| Parent Company | ByteDance (Private) |
| Ticker | N/A |
| Revenues | $12 billion |
| Employees | 300+ |
| Website | tiktok.com |
Is Tiktok a Public or a Private Company?
Tiktok is a private company. In fact, it is a subsidiary of the parent company ByteDance. ByteDance is also a private company. So, it means neither Tiktok nor ByteDance is publically traded in the stock exchanges. So, both Tiktok and ByteDance collect funds from various funding. Since its establishment, ByteDance has raised a total of $9.4B in funding from 56 investments. Their latest fund rising was from a Private Equity firm on Dec 11, 2020. Some of the lead investors of ByteDance are –
| Name of the Investor | Funding Round |
| Sequoia Capital | Private Equity Round – ByteDance |
| Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Japan | Private Equity Round – ByteDance |
| Tiger Global Management | Secondary Market – ByteDance |
| GGV Capital | Venture Round – ByteDance |
| CMB Wing Lung Bank | Debt Financing – ByteDance |
| Morgan Stanley | Debt Financing – ByteDance |
| Goldman Sachs | Debt Financing – ByteDance |
| Bank of China | Debt Financing – ByteDance |
| Primavera Capital Group | Series E – ByteDance |
| SoftBank Vision Fund | Series E – ByteDance |
List of Key Funding Rounds of ByteDance
| Date | Transaction Name | Investors | Money Raised | Lead Investors |
| Dec 11, 2020 | Private Equity Round – ByteDance | 2 | $2B | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Japan, Sequoia Capital |
| Mar 30, 2020 | Secondary Market – ByteDance | 1 | – | Tiger Global Management |
| Aug 26, 2019 | Venture Round – ByteDance | 1 | – | – |
| Apr 10, 2019 | Debt Financing – ByteDance | 4 | $1.3B | Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley |
| Oct 25, 2018 | Series E – ByteDance | 11 | $3B | General Atlantic, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Primavera Capital Group, SoftBank Vision Fund |
| Oct 25, 2018 | Series E – ByteDance | 1 | – | – |
| Jan 1, 2018 | Venture Round – ByteDance | 1 | – | – |
| Aug 11, 2017 | Private Equity Round – ByteDance | 1 | $2B | General Atlantic |
| Apr 7, 2017 | Series D – ByteDance | 5 | $1B | CCB International, Sequoia Capital China |
| Jun 3, 2014 | Series C – ByteDance | 3 | $100M | Sequoia Capital China |
List of Key Investments of ByteDance
| Date | Organization Name | Lead Investors | Funding Round | Money Raised |
| Jan 29, 2022 | DH-Robotics | – | Private Equity Round – DH-Robotics | – |
| Jan 24, 2022 | Silicon Integrated | – | Series D – Silicon Integrated | – |
| Jan 11, 2022 | Shexu Technology | Yes | Series A – Shexu Technology | – |
| Jan 6, 2022 | Oriental Honghu | Yes | Angel Round – Oriental Honghu | CN¥100M |
| Jan 6, 2022 | Li Weike | Yes | Venture Round – Li Weike | – |
| Dec 28, 2021 | Dynasty Gene | Yes | Venture Round – Dynasty Gene | – |
| Dec 27, 2021 | MYBO GAME | Yes | Venture Round – MYBO GAME | – |
| Dec 21, 2021 | Senior Automation Co., Ltd | Yes | Series A – Senior Automation Co., Ltd | CN¥120M |
| Nov 30, 2021 | iMile | Yes | Series A – iMile | $40M |
| Nov 25, 2021 | Moore Threads | – | Series A – Moore Threads | CN¥2B |
Is it Possible for Common Investors to Invest in Tiktok?
Well, because Tiktok is a subsidiary and it hasn’t released an IPO yet, therefore, common investors can’t buy or sell Tiktok shares through stock exchanges. However, they can indirectly invest in Tiktok’s shares. In fact, you have to invest in Tiktok’s parent company ByteDance. ByteDance is also a private company. So the only way you can invest in Tiktok is through private investment. SoftBank (SFTBY) and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) are two major investors in Tiktok. So, what you can do is, invest in these firms to indirectly invest in Tiktok. SoftBank (SFTBY) is a publicly traded Japanese bank and it is renowned for investing in Slack, NVIDIA, Uber, and many other technology companies. On the other hand, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is a New York, USA-based investment firm. Now you can invest in any of these investment firms to indirectly invest in Tiktok. You should keep in mind that you will need a brokerage account to invest in these private investment firms.
References:
https://www.quora.com/What-is-TikTok-s-stock-price-and-the-TikTok-stock-symbol
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bytedance/company_financials