ByteDance Plans Buyback of Up to $6 Billion at $400 Billion Valuation

ByteDance plans to repurchase up to $6 billion in shares at a valuation of about $400 billion, while proposing a later full-buyback deadline for outside shareholders and new incentives for AI business employees.

The offer is set at $241.35 per share, about 20% above the $200.41 reference price from November 2025. The current buyback valuation is below the level implied by a proposed sale in April 2026, when a founding shareholder sought to sell about $900 million in shares at a price that valued ByteDance above $600 billion. The April figure reflected a proposed sale, while the $400 billion figure applies to ByteDance’s planned repurchase.

The company also wants to extend the date when outside shareholders can require it to buy back all of their shares. That right gives investors in the unlisted company an exit route if ByteDance has not gone public by the agreed deadline. The proposal would move the date from Dec. 11, 2026, to Dec. 11, 2030; it had previously been pushed from 2022 to 2026. ByteDance has no stated timetable for an initial public offering.

The shareholder proposals cover both near-term share repurchases and the timing of a full exit for investors. ByteDance plans to direct 300 million incentive rights to employees in its AI business, with the awards tied to that business’s value. The program is intended to help retain key staff, but the company has not disclosed how it would allocate the rights or pay them out.

ByteDance already has a similar employee program called 豆包股, which lets workers share in gains as its AI business grows. Details of the new awards remain undisclosed, including how they would relate to that existing program.

The plans come as ByteDance’s AI spending rises. Revenue in the first half of 2026 increased about 30% from a year earlier to $120 billion, while net profit edged down to about $20 billion. Increased investment in AI was the main factor behind the profit decline.

In January 2026, ByteDance agreed to transfer an approximately 80% equity stake in TikTok’s U.S. data-security business to a U.S.-controlled joint venture while retaining its main revenue business. The agreement avoided a U.S. ban. The company has not stated when it plans to go public.