Stock Markets February 25, 2026

ByteDance Valuation Climbs to $550 Billion as General Atlantic Seeks to Sell Stake

Proposed secondary sale signals renewed investor confidence after U.S. approval of TikTok restructuring

By Maya Rios
ByteDance Valuation Climbs to $550 Billion as General Atlantic Seeks to Sell Stake

ByteDance has reached a $550 billion valuation as an early investor, General Atlantic, launches a process to sell part of its holding. The price represents a sharp increase from the company's internal valuation during an employee buyback last year and a rise over a November private trade pegging the firm at $480 billion. The possible sale comes after regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. eased following approval of a restructuring of TikTok's domestic operations in January.

Key Points

  • ByteDance's valuation has been reported at $550 billion, reflecting a 66% increase from the firm's internal valuation during an employee buyback last year.
  • The $550 billion price is roughly 15% higher than a November private trade that valued the company at $480 billion.
  • General Atlantic, an investor since 2017, has launched a sale process to provide liquidity for maturing funds and is reportedly seeking to close the transaction by March.

ByteDance is being valued at $550 billion as investment firm General Atlantic moves to divest a portion of its stake, according to a report published on Wednesday. That figure reflects a 66% jump from the company's internal valuation set during an employee buyback carried out last year.

The proposed secondary transaction would be the first major private-market sale involving the company since the Trump administration approved the restructuring of TikTok's U.S. operations in January. The new $550 billion price also represents about a 15% premium to a private-market trade in November that placed ByteDance's value at $480 billion.

General Atlantic, which first invested in ByteDance in 2017, has initiated the sale process in recent weeks as part of an effort to provide liquidity for funds approaching maturity. The New York-based firm is reportedly aiming to complete the deal by March, according to a source cited in the report.

Market attention to ByteDance's valuation has been driven in part by a run of quarterly revenue results that outpaced those of Meta Platforms, the report noted. Observers cited in the coverage say that the resolution of regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. has materially strengthened investor confidence in the company's global prospects.


The account emphasized that this potential divestment is the first significant sale of the company's shares since federal authorities approved the transfer of TikTok's domestic assets, a milestone that follows years of legal and political scrutiny over the app's ownership and data-security implications.

The precise size of the stake General Atlantic plans to sell has not been disclosed. Nonetheless, the transaction is being viewed as confirmation of strong appetite for high-growth private technology assets, and it further cements ByteDance's status among the most valuable private companies in advance of an eventual public offering.

While details remain limited publicly, the sequence of events laid out in the report underscores how shifts in regulatory posture and private-market demand can intersect to reshape valuations for large, privately held tech platforms.

Risks

  • The exact size of the stake being sold has not been disclosed, leaving uncertainty about the potential market impact of the transaction - this affects private markets and investor appetite for large tech holdings.
  • Although regulatory uncertainty has eased with approval of the TikTok restructuring, the company's path to a public listing and future valuation dynamics remain contingent on developments in policy and market sentiment - this impacts technology and capital markets.

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