TikTok Reportedly Bagged Nearly $39 Billion in the US Last Year — Though That Doesn’t Guarantee a Deal Will Happen

Photo Credit: Olivier Bergeron

TikTok made nearly $39 billion from its US operations last year, drawing the question of the economic impact of a federal ban to the forefront.

Beijing-based TikTok parent ByteDance earned a quarter of its total revenue last year from its US TikTok operations, according to sources close to the matter. The company’s international revenue jumped 63% to a whopping $39 billion in 2024, a quarter of ByteDance’s total revenue of $155 billion for the year — its highest to date.

Moreover, growth in ByteDance’s Chinese operations, such as Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), has slowed significantly. That leaves the company more dependent than ever on what TikTok earns from American users.

ByteDance is now between a rock and a hard place. If it doesn’t divest TikTok in the US, it will completely lose that revenue. But if it does divest TikTok, and the platform is able to continue its US operations, ByteDance will only get a lump sum in the transaction, missing out on its future US earnings. Neither option is preferable for the company, which has already indicated it is reluctant to make a deal, especially when faced with Trump’s hard-hitting tariffs.

TikTok’s list of potential suitors grows ever larger, while some estimates have put the platform’s value at over $100 billion. In comparison, TikTok is earning more than YouTube, but less than Instagram, and likely not profiting as much as either.

YouTube earned over $36 billion in ad revenue last year, but its income from Premium subscriptions, YouTube Music, YouTube TV, and movie/television rentals pushes that number even higher. Instagram brought in around $71 billion, with its annual profit jumping up 59.5% year-over-year.

ByteDance, meanwhile, saw only a 6% increase in profit in 2024, for a total of $33 billion in profit out of $155 billion in revenue. That’s due in no small part to its significant investments in AI development and data infrastructure. The company also invested heavily in ecommerce, with its TikTok Shop accruing impressive sales during the Black Friday weekend.

However, given that TikTok just laid off a portion of its US-based ecommerce team, perhaps it isn’t reaping as many benefits from its success abroad as one might expect.

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