- Home
- Technology
- News
TikTok owner ByteDance’s revenue jumped 111% in 2020, users touched 1.9b mark
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, saw its revenue for 2020 more than double, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Revenue for last year totaled $34.3 billion, up 111% year-on-year, senior management at the company told employees in a company-wide meeting. Gross profit rose 93% to $19 billion, the person who attended the meeting said.
ByteDance had 1.9 billion monthly active users by the end of 2020 across all of its platforms — which include its widely popular short video app TikTok, the Chinese version Douyin, and news aggregation app Toutiao, among others.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the numbers.
The rapid growth underscores the excitement around ByteDance, a private company, and why its valuation has reportedly been pegged north of $100 billion.
The company also hired former Xiaomi executive Shou Zi Chew to be its new chief financial officer earlier this year, signaling it could be gearing up for an initial public offering.
ByteDance’s 2020 operating loss was $2.1 billion versus a $684 million operating profit the year before, said the person, who wished to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak publicly. The loss was mainly due to the cost of share-based compensation for shareholders, the source said.
The Chinese internet company has managed to find success internationally with TikTok, the short video app popular for dancing and lip syncing. Advertising is a key part of ByteDance’s revenue on its platforms, but it has started pushing into new areas such as gaming and is pitting itself against some of China’s other tech giants like Tencent.
It’s been a rocky year for the company, however.
ByteDance was dubbed a national security threat by former President Donald Trump’s administration last August and ordered to divest its TikTok business in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal reported this year that a deal to sell TiKTok has been shelved indefinitely.
In China, ByteDance has been caught up on a broader regulatory crackdown on the country’s technology sector. Douyin, the Chinese version of TiKTok, along with 104 other apps, were called out by China’s Cyberspace Administration of China for the illegal collection of personal data and asked to rectify the issues.
The company will also undergo a key management change this year. Zhang Yiming, the co-founder of ByteDance, will step down from his role as CEO by the end of the year and move into a key strategy role. Another co-founder, Liang Rubo, who is currently head of human resources, will take over as CEO.
SOURCE: CNBC

Pakistan tops global emerging markets in default risk reduction
- 13 hours ago

Alkhidmat Foundation hosts national training workshop to expand 'Bano Qabil Initiative'
- 17 hours ago

Chromebook Plus laptops like Lenovo’s sleek, new 14-incher are getting free Gemini AI features
- 5 hours ago

Battle of Truth to never be erased from India’s memory, fully prepared to defend homeland: Asim Munir
- 14 hours ago

Meta’s AI copyright win comes with a warning about fair use
- 5 hours ago
Here are 14 of our favorite deals from Amazon’s early Prime Day sale
- 5 hours ago

Pakistan welcomes supplemental award by Court of Arbitration in Indus Waters matter
- 17 hours ago

The Democratic Party is ripe for a takeover
- 3 hours ago

Suicide blast leaves 8 security personnel martyred, 4 civilians injured in North Waziristan: KP CM
- 17 hours ago

The hilarious implications of the Supreme Court’s new porn decision
- 3 hours ago

The Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision isn’t as devastating as you think
- 3 hours ago

What's ahead in 2025 for Notre Dame, UConn and the Pac-2?
- 17 hours ago