(March 5): ByteDance Ltd plans to buy back employee stock at a valuation of about US$312 billion (RM1.39 trillion), a significant markup from previous levels that reflects a brightening outlook for Chinese tech shares.

TikTok’s owner is offering US staff about US$189.90 a share, according to a person familiar with the deal. That’s up from about US$181 in a similar proposal from about six months ago, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing an internal decision. 

Investors have marked up ByteDance in recent months despite a US edict forcing a sale or blockade of TikTok. They have piled into Chinese tech stocks in 2025, after DeepSeek’s explosive global debut forced a reassessment of the country’s tech sector. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s public endorsement of tech firms last month also dangled the prospect of government support for an industry deemed crucial to reversing economic malaise and driving independence from American technology.

At least three of ByteDance’s major investors — SoftBank Group Corp, Fidelity Investments and T Rowe Price Group Inc — raised their internal assessments to more than US$400 billion. Representatives of ByteDance didn’t respond to an email seeking comment on the latest transaction, which Reuters first reported.

During ByteDance’s annual share buy-back last year, the offer price was set at roughly US$180 per share, which represents US$300 billion in value, Bloomberg News has reported. That’s an increase from the US$268 billion valuation applied for buy-backs in 2023. 

While many investors remain focused on the geopolitical risks facing TikTok’s US business, others factored in ByteDance’s strength in AI. Its chatbot Doubao has 75 million regular active users, while the company has touted an earlier vision-understanding model as 85% cheaper than the industry average price, not unlike DeepSeek. 

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee