TikTok, the popular video-sharing app, has become an international sensation with users from all over the world. But who exactly owns TikTok?
TikTok is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. Based in Beijing, ByteDance was founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Zhang Yiming.
He wanted to create an AI-powered platform that could deliver personalized content to users based on their interests and preferences. ByteDance’s first viral success was Toutiao, a news aggregator app that quickly grew in popularity.
ByteDance acquired two companies in 2018 that would eventually come together to form TikTok. Musical.ly was a lip-sync video platform popular among teens and young adults, while Douyin was its Chinese equivalent. By merging these two apps into one, ByteDance created the phenomenon known as TikTok today.
TikTok has since exploded in popularity across the globe with an estimated 800 million monthly active users worldwide. It is particularly popular among younger generations and has become the go-to medium for music videos, comedy sketches, dance challenges, and more.
Since its acquisition of Musical.ly and Douyin in 2018, ByteDance has been firmly in control of TikTok. The company has invested heavily in the app’s development and marketing efforts to ensure its continued growth and success. Despite being headquartered in China, ByteDance operates offices around the world to manage its global operations more efficiently.
In 2020, there were rumors that Microsoft or Oracle were interested in buying TikTok’s US operations from ByteDance but those talks eventually fell through. This means that for now at least, ByteDance continues to retain full ownership of TikTok.
In conclusion, ByteDance is the owner of TikTok. The Chinese tech giant acquired Musical.ly and Douyin back in 2018 to form what we now know as TikTok today. Despite rumors of potential buyers for its US operations, ByteDance remains firmly in control of this international sensation with no signs of relinquishing ownership anytime soon.