TikTok Owner's Revenue More Than Doubles in 2020 Despite US Pressure, Reports Say

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Chinese tech giant Bytedance Ltd, the owner of video-sharing application TikTok, saw its revenue more than double in 2020 despite former US President Donald Trump's attempts to ban the service, sources familiar with the company told the Bloomberg agency on Wednesday.

Throughout 2020, ByteDance's revenue rose to $35 billion and the company's operating profit increased from $4 billion in 2019 to $7 billion this past year, the source said.

ByteDance is reportedly seeking financing ahead of its initial public offering that will put the company's value at $180 billion.

While in office, the Trump administration attempted to crack down on Chinese tech apps, such as TikTok and the messaging service WeChat. In early September, then-US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that downloads of the two aforementioned applications would be banned from September 20.

The decision was later pushed back to November 12 as the US government sought to persuade ByteDance to sell TikTok to Oracle, although federal judges in the United States eventually blocked the Trump administration from imposing the ban.