- ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has surpassed China's tech giants Tencent and Alibaba in underlying profit for the first time. Despite the mounting losses of its popular video-sharing app, ByteDance reported a 79% surge in profitability, raking in around $25 billion in EBITDA in 2022.
- With a boost in advertising spending on the popular TikTok viral video platform and its sister app Douyin, ByteDance saw its profits rise alongside its sales, which reached almost $85 billion in 2022, marking a 30% increase from the previous year. This surge in revenue allowed ByteDance to surpass China's leading tech companies, Tencent and Alibaba, in terms of EBITDA, with the latter two reporting $23.9 billion and $22.5 billion, respectively, for the same year.
Why it matters
Amid increasing security concerns from regulators and governments worldwide, ByteDance's remarkable expansion has coincided with scrutiny surrounding its flagship platform, TikTok. The US government has called for either a ban or a divestment of the popular short-form video app. TikTok's CEO, Shou Zi Chew, defended the app's integrity during a congressional hearing last month, asserting that it would remain "free from any manipulation by any government."
