"The $14 billion price tag proposed for TikTok's U.S. business values it more like a stuffy old energy or food company than a leading global social media company. The rough estimate, cited by Vice President JD Vance on Thursday, is well below previous projections that scaled closer to $40 billion. Vance's comments came as President Donald Trump pushed forward a plan for American investors to buy the U.S. operation from Chinese internet firm ByteDance Ltd."
"TikTok's video-sharing platform ranks among the most popular U.S. social media properties based on average daily app usage. Its influence has also been felt in the proliferation of competing short-video services like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Valuing it has always been difficult, particularly given the complexity of the app's coveted content algorithm. But even by the most conservative estimates, the U.S. operation-the firm's most lucrative market with 170 million active users-generates revenue north of $10 billion a year."
Vice President JD Vance cited a $14 billion valuation for TikTok's U.S. business, far below prior estimates near $40 billion, as President Trump advanced a plan for American investors to acquire the U.S. operation from ByteDance. Expected buyers such as Oracle and Silver Lake may favor a low valuation, while ByteDance and existing investors would likely view it as undervaluing the asset. Industry observers note the U.S. unit has about 170 million active users and generates over $10 billion annually. At $14 billion, the implied price-to-sales is roughly 1.4x, comparable to mature low-growth companies and well below peers like Meta and Alphabet.
Read at Fortune Asia
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