ByteDance profit said to top $3bn in ’19

SAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG: TikTok parent-company ByteDance Ltd generated more than $17 billion in revenue and more than $3 billion in net profit last year, figures that show the startup, already the most valuable in the world, is growing at a brisk rate, according to people familiar with the matter.

“The revenue for last year is more than double the company’s tally of about $7.4 billion in 2018,’’ the people, who asked not to be identified because the financial details are private, said.

ByteDance has emerged as one of the tech industry’s most surprising success stories, an innovative Chinese company that is challenging the global dominance of US internet giants.

It draws some 1.5 billion monthly active users to a family of apps that includes the TikTok short-video platform, its Chinese twin Douyin and the news service Toutiao.

This month, the company poached Walt Disney Co streaming czar Kevin Mayer to become chief executive officer of TikTok.

ByteDance, led by Zhang Yiming, is becoming a viable rival to the dominant American online behemoths, Facebook Inc.and Alphabet Inc.

Facebook unit Instagram brought in about $20 billion in advertising revenue in 2019, Bloomberg previously reported. Google said its video unit YouTube recorded $15.1 billion in ad sales last year.

ByteDance representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The company had very preliminary discussions about an initial public offering last year, but is in no rush to go public given its financial performance, people have said.