Deals
ByteDance Weighs TikTok Stake Sale Over U.S. Concerns
- Sale of majority stake is one of a range of possible options
- Senators called ByteDance’s control of TikTok a security risk
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China’s ByteDance Inc. created one of the country’s rare global hits with the addictive video app TikTok. Now the U.S. government is threatening that success as officials in Washington warn the service presents a security threat.
The Beijing-based company, led by Chief Executive Officer Yiming Zhang, is weighing a range of options to address those concerns, according to people familiar with the matter. Advisors are pitching everything from an aggressive legal defense and operational separation for TikTok to sale of a majority stake, said the people, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. Selling more than half the business could raise substantially more than $10 billion, one person said.