2/25/2026 | USA | economy | ✓ Verified - investing.com

Exclusive-ByteDance valued at $550 billion in proposed share sale by General Atlantic, sources say

#ByteDance #General Atlantic #TikTok #Valuation #Investment #Social Media #Chinese Tech

📌 Key Takeaways

General Atlantic selling ByteDance stake at $550 billion valuation
Valuation represents 66% increase from previous year and 15% from last November
Deal follows U.S. government approval of TikTok's U.S. operations sale
ByteDance has surpassed Facebook in revenue and is world's largest social media company by sales

📖 Full Retelling

Investment firm General Atlantic is selling an equity stake in Chinese social media giant ByteDance in a deal that values the company at $550 billion, sources told Reuters on February 25, 2026, marking a dramatic rise in the privately held shares following the Trump administration's clearance of TikTok's U.S. interests sale in January. The potential stake divestment will be the first since the U.S. government approved the sale of ByteDance's TikTok unit American interests. This valuation represents a 66% jump from when a share buyback last year priced the company at over $330 billion and a 15% increase from a secondary market deal in November 2025 that valued ByteDance at $480 billion. General Atlantic, which first invested in ByteDance in 2017 when it was valued at approximately $20 billion, initiated the process to sell some of its shares recently and aims to complete the transaction by March, though specific financial terms and the percentage of shares being sold were not disclosed. The planned transaction highlights a sustained increase in ByteDance's private market valuation and strengthens the prospects for other investors who anticipate substantial returns when the company eventually goes public. ByteDance, whose revenues have surpassed Facebook owner Meta, has become the world's largest social media company by sales, with its 2025 annual profit potentially reaching approximately $48 billion. Meanwhile, venture capital firm HSG, formerly Sequoia Capital China, is separately raising a continuation fund to acquire some of its ByteDance shares from maturing funds at a valuation between $350 billion and $370 billion.

🏷️ Themes

Corporate Valuation, Tech Investment, Social Media Market

📚 Related People & Topics

General Atlantic

American growth equity firm

General Atlantic Service Company, L.P., also known as GA, is an American growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for global growth companies, headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1980 as the captive investment team for Atlantic Philanthropies, a philanthropic or...

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ByteDance

Chinese Internet technology company

ByteDance is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Haidian, Beijing. Its associated variable-interest entity ByteDance Ltd is incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo, and a team of others in 2012, ByteDance developed the video-sharing app TikTok/Douyi...

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Valuation

Topics referred to by the same term

Valuation may refer to:

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Investment

Set of actions with the intent of earning profit

# Investment **Investment** is the strategic commitment of resources to an asset or endeavor with the expectation of generating profit, increasing value, or achieving a favorable return over a specified period. ### Definitions and Perspectives The concept of investment can be interpreted through ...

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TikTok

Video-focused social media platform

TikTok, known in mainland China, Macau, and Hong Kong as Douyin (Chinese: 抖音; pinyin: Dǒuyīn; lit. 'Shaking Sound'), is a social media and short-form online video platform. It hosts user-submitted videos, which range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes.

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