Is TikTok Publicly Traded: Everything You Need to Know About TikTok Stock

Do you want to know if TikTok is publicly traded? TikTok is a social networking platform that focuses on video. It is owned by the Chinese business group ByteDance. ByteDance owns several other websites, including Xigua Video, Lark, Douyin, and Toutiao. 

TikTok is considered an international version of Douyin, a Chinese app released in 2016. People in China mostly use it. Douyin was modeled after the popular video-sharing platform TikTok. 

TikTok was first made available in countries and regions outside of China in the year 2017. It is a mobile application that is seeing rapid expansion and is primarily utilized by younger users. 

Users can share content by uploading videos to their profiles. People often dance, perform music, or complete challenges when they appear in videos. The application provides its users with a large selection of editing tools and filters.

This platform is available in more than 50 languages, which is why it has one billion people using it actively. It has another 4.8 billion people who use it occasionally.

Is TikTok publicly traded?

TikTok's owner, ByteDance, is not yet a publicly traded company. You are unable to trade and invest directly with the company. Furthermore, there is no published stock price.

When (or even if) ByteDance will go public is currently unknown. And becoming publicly traded is not a simple undertaking for a corporation. 

A private company that wants to go public must prepare for an exponential increase in media coverage and adhere to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations.

Instructions on how to purchase shares of TikTok

TikTok is an excellent option for investment because the firm is well known in many different countries and is expanding rapidly. You cannot purchase stock in TikTok because it is a subsidiary of a private firm.

Numerous avenues are open to you for investing in subsidiary firms such as TikTok. There is a high possibility that users will not be able to acquire shares in the firm itself. But, you may be able to buy stock in the parent company. 

However, you cannot do so with TikTok because ByteDance is a private corporation that does not offer its shares for sale to the general public.

Does this imply that no one can invest money in TikTok or ByteDance? You are not required to. But you will not be able to make a direct investment in any of these companies.

Buy stocks from employees on private markets

For instance, you can invest in one of ByteDance's very own investors. ByteDance, for instance, has received funding assistance from SoftBank Group. 

Thus, ByteDance has been able to construct and market digital items such as TikTok with the assistance of the money provided by the investment firm.

As long as TikTok and ByteDance generate revenue, SoftBank Group shares investors will benefit financially. This indicates that you have the potential to profit from TikTok's growth even while you are waiting for the company to go public and begin selling shares.

You can also purchase shares directly from employees of ByteDance or individual investors. ByteDance is a privately held firm; nonetheless, some people, primarily its significant investors and management, are eligible to get company shares. 

Companies frequently use stock options as compensation for their staff members. These individuals are given shares in the company rather than a raise in their hourly income in exchange for their work. 

They will have the option to sell or maintain their shares after the company goes public.

There are certain occasions when it is possible to purchase privately held shares of a corporation before the company becomes public. Even though ByteDance shares aren't liquid at the moment, there aren't many buyers and sellers on the open market.

Thus, you may be able to buy them from private shareholders. This is because there aren't a lot of buyers and sellers on the open market.

However, considering the challenges involved, you shouldn't bank on this as a significant component of your overall investment strategy. Before either company goes public, you may never find anyone willing to sell their shares of ByteDance or TikTok.

Is TikTok on the stock market?

TikTok is not a firm that is traded on a public market at this time. It is difficult for the typical investor to put money into the corporation that owns TikTok and ByteDance because the company in question is private. 

This is a shame because TikTok has experienced rapid expansion and has the potential to generate significant wealth for the company's stockholders.

You might be able to invest in TikTok, but you won't be able to do so directly until the company becomes public again. However, some ways to invest are not as straightforward as others.

Who is the app's owner?

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese business that develops apps for artificial intelligence (AI) and video. TikTok has for sure become extremely popular in recent years. Across several platforms, ByteDance has close to 2 billion active users every month.

ByteDance got its start when two friends collaborated on the development of a real estate search engine. Over a few years, they and a few others developed big data algorithms to identify and organize news based on what a user wanted. 

These algorithms were able to do this by analyzing large amounts of data. This platform swiftly grew into Toutiao, a popular news aggregator in China worth more than $20 billion.

Toutiao takes content from the internet and social media sites. But it also has relationships with people who generate its content. It has partnerships with around 20,000 traditional media sources and 800,000 people who generate media content.

ByteDance also owns the following products:

• Gogokid is a website that helps kids learn English by connecting them with people who speak English as their first language.

• Xigua Video is a place to share lengthier videos than those on TikTok.

• Lark is a platform for working together that was first utilized by ByteDance workers but is now open to the public.

• Resso is an app for streaming music with friends.

How can you put money into the company that made TikTok?

ByteDance is a private firm that doesn't trade on public marketplaces. So, if you wanted to invest in ByteDance, you would have to put money into investment entities that hold parts of the business.

You could also be able to locate chances to buy the shares on private markets. This is based on the premise that someone holding ByteDance stock wants to sell. So, there is no guarantee of availability.

You won't be able to buy shares in the company directly if you are a small investor. However, you can invest your money in TikTok by purchasing shares in private equity businesses. This is one option!

Various private equity entities hold TikTok's shareholdings at this time. The names of these companies include Softbank, KKR, Coatue, General Atlantic, Hillhouse, and Sequoia Capital.

What is the price of one share of TikTok in the private market?

On private marketplaces, it's almost impossible to figure out how much a TikTok stock might be worth. As a private corporation, it does not require to share all of its financial information.

Analysts may only guess at the value of a company without reliable information about its expenses and profits. Estimates estimate that the value of ByteDance in private dealings is about $400 billion.

What is the stock ticker for TikTok?

TikTok doesn't have a ticker symbol. If the company ever gets an IPO, it's also not obvious what its stock ticker will be.

Since most Chinese firms now trade publicly on American stock exchanges, TikTok may be one of the corporations that trade there.

Is TikTok planning to announce its IPO soon?

According to The Wall Street Journal rumors, TikTok does NOT have any intentions to go public soon. The intentions to go public have been put on hold for now.

Zhang Yiming, the former CEO of ByteDance, indicated in March that he would terminate the plans. Soon after, he met with authorities who suggested TikTok should focus primarily on data security.

As of the current year, the company hasn't revealed anything about its intentions for an IPO. ByteDance said in April, in reaction to what it dubbed rumors in the media, that it wasn't ready yet and that there were no intentions to go public.

Three reasons why you shouldn't put money into TikTok

While TikTok's rise looks much like Facebook's early days, the site and its parent firm, ByteDance, haven't always had it easy.

1. Prohibitions and limits

TikTok has been prohibited or banned in many countries, such as China, which doesn't let individuals download the app. People in China can still use Douyin but can't utilize the Chinese version of TikTok to get to TikTok content.

China is not the only government to try to restrict people from using TikTok. India, the second-most people in the world, banned TikTok in June 2020. 

In August 2020, President Donald Trump of the United States tried to eliminate TikTok. But afterward, a compromise that the president agreed to stopped the prohibition.

2. More competitors

Possible competitors to TikTok are another concern. During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, most short-form videos were shared on TikTok. However, numerous other companies tried to take some of its market shares.

Some of these competitors may have had some success. By the number of downloads, TikTok's market share reached 88% in March 2020. 

But by August 2020, that number dropped to 56%. Even though some of that drop might be because of prohibitions, TikTok's competitors are sure to keep attempting to encourage users to move to them.

For example, Instagram announced it would "double down" on its fight with TikTok by boosting video content in its reel style. Snapchat, a competitor, keeps refining its "snaps," brief videos to lure some of TikTok's subscribers.

3. Dangers to privacy and safety

There are also issues about how safe and private TikTok is for its users. Backlash about how user data could be misused and harmful challenges that could become viral on the network could hurt its future. 

Taking care of these problems could be vital to the organization's long-term success.

When will a TikTok IPO happen?

There have been rumors that ByteDance might conduct an initial public offering (IPO) when a company goes public and starts trading on the stock market.

As of June 2022, there is no date for this planned IPO. Talks for an initial public offering (IPO) have been held off due to regulatory uncertainties in China.

Details about ByteDance valuation

ByteDance could be worth $400 billion, but its share price is not yet known since it is not publicly traded. In October 2021, a report indicated that an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) bought back stock for $132 per share.

Nevertheless, the report states that this would put the company's value at less than $200 billion, much less than recent assessments of the company's valuation. 

Because of this, it's crucial to accept these ratings with a grain of salt since they typically say that the actual value of a privately held company can't be ascertained.

How can you buy TikTok stock?

At first, it might not be easy to figure out how to invest in companies like TikTok stock. ByteDance owns TikTok, which is not a public corporation. So, you can't buy TikTok or ByteDance shares until the firm goes public.

1. Invest in TikTok partners

Some companies with shares on the public market have invested in ByteDance. Therefore it is feasible to invest indirectly.

SoftBank (SFTBY), a Tokyo-based Japanese bank quoted on the stock market, is one of ByteDance's top investors. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is a New York-based private equity corporation. It is also traded on the stock market and has placed money into ByteDance.

You may buy shares in either of these companies with one of the top brokerage accounts. You may also use the same account to buy shares of ByteDance when it goes public.

2. Utilize a pre-IPO platform

Some pre-IPO trading sites may enable you to purchase and sell ByteDance shares before the firm goes public. EquityZen is one of these platforms. It gives you several methods to invest in pre-IPO stocks.

Since TikTok and ByteDance are facing regulatory ambiguity in China, probably, these platforms won't let consumers use them before they go public. But if ByteDance's ambitions to go public go as anticipated, this chance could become available in the future.

Is it an excellent idea to invest in TikTok stocks?

IPOs are widely seen as enormous prospects for making money. However, investing in IPOs can be riskier than purchasing shares of well-known public firms.

This is why: Less information is provided to private businesses. Investors rely on their choices on unknowable factors. However, going public can earn businesses a lot of media attention.

Let's say you believe the company's projected worth is either too high or too low. In that instance, you can profit from the discrepancy before the shares go on the market.

Therefore, if you think the company's estimate will be higher than its market price, you should buy the stock. On the other hand, if you believe the price is excessive, you can sell.

What is the best platform to invest in TikTok when it goes public?

When the business goes public, a brokerage account will be needed to trade TikTok shares. When the shares go on sale, you'll be prepared to purchase them after establishing your brokerage account.

Think about others even when you cannot acquire a portion of TikTok. The shares of Twitter, Tencent, and other companies are among the finest to invest in.

Related questions: FAQs

1. Did Walmart have TikTok?

In the end, TikTok negotiated a deal with Oracle and Walmart to operate together. The US corporations would buy a stake in the app and make it more secure.

2. Is ByteDance on the stock market?

ByteDance is not on the stock market, and tech companies have led a boom in the IPO market in the US.

3. What is TikTok called in China?

In China, the app is named Douyin.

4. How do I get stock?

An online stockbroker is the most acceptable approach to buying stocks because it is the easiest way. After opening an account and depositing money, you can buy stocks through your broker's website in only a few minutes. You can also hire a full-service stockbroker or acquire shares from the company directly.

Final words

TikTok is one of the fastest growing apps worldwide, with one billion monthly users and billions of downloads. 

Its leading firm, ByteDance, was previously rumored to be worth as much as $400 billion, but no one knows since it isn't traded on the stock market.

Until ByteDance declares an IPO, the only method to invest in TikTok is through one of ByteDance's backers or a pre-IPO investment platform.