TikTok was launched internationally in 2017 following ByteDance's 2016 acquisition of Musical.ly. ByteDance was founded in 2012 in Beijing by Zhang Yiming, initially as a news aggregation app (Toutiao). The company expanded rapidly into short-form video, launching Douyin — TikTok's Chinese equivalent — in 2016. ByteDance is privately held, with investors including SoftBank, Sequoia and General Atlantic.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance Ltd., a privately held company founded in Beijing. The app runs as three separate versions:
WangTouZhongWen is owned by the China Internet Investment Fund (40%), state broadcaster China Media Group (30%) and the Beijing Cultural Investment Development Group (30%).
US sale-or-ban law (2024–2026). In April 2024 the US passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok's US business or face a ban. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law in January 2025. Enforcement was then paused by executive order until January 2026, when TikTok's US app was transferred to the TikTok USDS Joint Venture, in which ByteDance holds 19.9%.
Data access concerns. In 2022, leaked recordings of internal TikTok meetings indicated that ByteDance employees in China had accessed US user data. In a letter to US senators released in July 2022, TikTok confirmed that China-based employees could access some US user data after approval by its US-based security team, and said US user traffic was being routed to Oracle servers in the US ("Project Texas").
Congressional hearing (2023). In March 2023, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee, where lawmakers questioned him for about five hours about ByteDance's access to US user data and its influence over content.
Biometric data settlement (2021–2022). In 2021 TikTok agreed to pay USD 92 million to settle a US class action alleging that it collected users' biometric data, such as facial features, without consent, in breach of federal law and Illinois' biometric privacy law. A court approved the settlement in 2022.
TikTok is classified as Chinese-owned. Its parent, ByteDance, is a privately held company founded and headquartered in Beijing. This applies to TikTok in Europe and everywhere outside the US and China. In the US, the app has been run since January 2026 by a joint venture in which ByteDance holds 19.9%. A state-backed company also holds a 1% stake and one of three board seats in ByteDance's Chinese subsidiary that runs Douyin and its other China-market apps. The exact rights attached to the board seat have not been disclosed.
Apps with no verified Chinese ownership or control.
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