Investment giant General Atlantic is selling part of its stake in the Chinese tech company in a deal that values ByteDance at roughly $550 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. If completed, it would mark a sharp rise in the company’s private market valuation.
That figure represents a 66 percent jump from last year’s share buyback, which valued ByteDance at just over $330 billion. It is also about 15 percent higher than a secondary market transaction in November that priced the company around $480 billion.
For a private company, valuation is more art than science. Shares trade in opaque secondary markets, and deal terms are rarely disclosed. Still, each transaction becomes a kind of referendum on investor appetite. At $550 billion, the signal is clear: demand remains strong.
ByteDance’s financial performance helps explain the surge in valuation. Reuters previously reported that its revenues have surpassed those of Meta Platforms, and its 2025 profit could reach around $48 billion. Its portfolio includes TikTok, China’s Douyin, the news app Toutiao, and the fast growing AI chatbot Doubao.
General Atlantic first invested in ByteDance in 2017, when it was valued at roughly $20 billion. The firm is now reportedly seeking to close this partial sale in March. Some of its funds are nearing the end of their lifecycle, which typically runs 10 to 12 years, making this a natural moment to return capital to investors.
