Some companies go public to make the market believe in them; others choose not to go public because the market is already waiting for them.

With ByteDance’s size, going public is indeed not the best solution right now.
ByteDance’s stock is valued at over $600 billion in the private market, and founder Zhang Yiming believes there is still room for the valuation to rise.
According to reports from foreign media, ByteDance’s board of directors reached a consensus in early May 2026 to postpone its planned initial public offering (IPO). Zhang Yiming believes there is still room for the valuation to increase, and listing at this stage would hand over too much benefit to later-stage risk investors.
At present, ByteDance’s off-market “gray market” trading valuation has exceeded $600 billion. A senior technology investment banker at Bank of America said the company’s market capitalization could come close to $1 trillion and set a new industry benchmark.
Policy and geopolitical risks have eased somewhat. In early 2026, Oracle reached an agreement with an investor consortium to jointly acquire 80% of the equity in TikTok’s U.S. entity, which has essentially cleared the relevant regulatory pressure.
In the AI business area, Doubao APP—the chat assistant with the largest user base in China—is adding paid tiers on top of its free service.