ByteDance was founded in Beijing in 2012 by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo, starting with the news app Toutiao. It launched Douyin in China in 2016 and TikTok internationally in 2017, after buying Musical.ly. Its other products include CapCut, Lark, Pico and the homework app Gauth. ByteDance is privately held; its main operating centres are Beijing and Singapore.
ByteDance Ltd. is a privately held company registered in the Cayman Islands. Its investors include General Atlantic, Sequoia, KKR, SoftBank Vision Fund, Susquehanna and Tiger Global, but co-founder Zhang Yiming is reported to control the company through a dual-class share structure. Separately, a state-affiliated entity holds a 1% "golden share" in ByteDance's Chinese domestic subsidiary. Since January 2026, TikTok's US app has been run by TikTok USDS Joint Venture, in which ByteDance holds 19.9%; ByteDance continues to own TikTok and its other products outside the US.
ByteDance is a privately held technology group controlled by its co-founder, Zhang Yiming, and operates in China under Chinese law. A state-affiliated entity holds a 1% golden share in its Chinese domestic subsidiary, which gives it a say over content decisions for China-facing products. ByteDance is not state-owned, but its China operations are subject to direct state influence.
Apps with no verified Chinese ownership or control.