ByteDance

Business in Russia

Main article: Tiktok rus (Russian legal entity TikTok)

Performance indicators

2023: ByteDance's annual revenue tops $110 billion

At the end of 2023, the revenue of the Chinese Internet corporation ByteDance, which owns the platform for creating and watching short videos TikTok, exceeded $110 billion. According to this indicator, the company surpassed its main competitor Tencent Holdings, as stated in the materials released on December 20, 2023.

According to Bloomberg, referring to information received from knowledgeable persons who wished to remain unknown, ByteDance manages to maintain high growth rates, despite economic shocks in China and sanctions pressure from the United States. In 2022, ByteDance's revenue amounted to more than $80 billion, showing an increase of about 30% on an annualized basis. In 2023, the increase in income exceeded 30% compared to the previous year.

The revenue of the Chinese Internet corporation ByteDance exceeded $110 billion

The rapid strengthening of ByteDance's business, as noted, is facilitated by the high popularity of TikTok and Douyin, the Chinese version of the video service. In particular, as noted, in China, the Douyin site is being transformed into a universal platform with built-in functions for ordering food, air tickets and booking hotels. Thus, ByteDance enters the territory where Alibaba and the local e-commerce service Meituan conduct their main business (it specializes in accepting local orders, delivering food from restaurants, groceries from stores, flowers, gifts and other goods).

ByteDance adheres to a similar strategy in foreign markets. In particular, in December 2023, the corporation announced its intention to invest $1.5 billion in the Indonesian company GoTo, which owns the popular local online trading platform Tokopedia. Thus, the TikTok service will be able to return to the Indonesian e-commerce market, from which it was forced to leave due to tougher requirements from regulators.^[1]

2022:30% increase in revenue to $80 billion

At the end of 2022, the revenue of ByteDance, which owns, among other things, the TikTok platform, jumped 30% compared to the previous year and exceeded $80 billion. Such data were released in early April 2023.

ByteDance's profit EBITDA in 2022 amounted to approximately $25 billion, which is 79% more than a year earlier: this is a record result. It is noted that according to this indicator, ByteDance overtook other Chinese IT corporations, in particular, Tencent and whose Alibaba EBITDA profit in 2022 amounted to $23.9 billion and $22.5 billion, respectively.

ByteDance's net profit in 2022 was approximately $25 billion

The revenue of ByteDance's international divisions, including TikTok, has more than doubled to $15 billion. The company was able to significantly improve financial performance, despite pressure from regulators in Western countries. The increase in sales was facilitated by an increase in advertisers' spending on campaigns in TikTok and Douyin (the Chinese version of the service). The results shown, as noted, emphasize the sustainability of ByteDance's business against the background of the introduction of bans on the use of TikTok by a number of government agencies in different countries. The authorities of such states fear that the TikTok application may pose a threat to their national security due to the alleged transfer of user data to the Chinese government.

The continued steady growth of ByteDance, according to market participants, can strengthen the confidence of investors who have become more cautious in the current macroeconomic situation and crisis. ByteDance's market value is estimated at $220 billion. According to the Financial Times, in 2022 ByteDance received about 80% of its revenues in China, while TikTok remains a unprofitable project for the company. Officially, ByteDance does not disclose its financial performance, as it is a private structure.^[2]

2021

Threefold increase in losses

ByteDance's operating losses in 2021 exceeded $7 billion and amounted to $7.15 billion, which more than triples the cash losses of a year ago (losses - $2.14 billion). The company published the corresponding financial report for employees, reports The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which had this document at its disposal.

As the newspaper notes, ByteDance's losses are associated with the growing investments of the TikTok owner in the development of international business. In the first quarter of 2022, she registered operating profit and noted that "it indicates that one of the most expensive startups in the world can recover after many years of big losses," the WSJ said.

ByteDance owner's losses triple

ByteDance's investments in research and development in 2021 amounted to $14.6 billion, commercial expenses - $19.2 billion. The report shows that the company quickly increases its revenues, accumulating a huge stock of cash and increasing investments, but with large market losses, including due to an unrealized loss (holding securities after their value falls).

ByteDance's net losses at the end of 2021 were $84.9 billion, which is 87% more than losses a year earlier. The indicator includes an unrealized loss of $75.6 billion from investments in convertible bonds.

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of March 2022 amounted to $42.6 billion compared to $34.1 billion at the end of 2021, and total assets - $74 billion ($64.3 billion in December 2021).

ByteDance had more than 130,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2021, according to WSJ sources familiar with the matter. The company listed 46 risk factors in the 100-page report that should account for employee stockholders.^[3]

Revenue growth by 70%, to $58 billion

The income of the owner of TikTok ByteDance grew by 70% in 2021 and reached $58 billion. This is slower growth than a year earlier, when the company's income grew by 111%, to $34.3 billion. The drop in indicators is attributed to the fact that China is tightening regulation of large technology companies. Such data in mid-January 2022 were cited by Reuters, citing sources familiar with ByteDance's performance.

According to Sensor Tower, users spent about $2.3 billion on TikTok and the iOS version of Douyin in 2021, up 77% from 2020.

TikTok owner increases revenue by 70% in 2021

The report on ByteDance's income, which does not disclose the data in person, followed a November 2021 report by the technical news publication The Information, which said ByteDance's gross revenue in 2021, total sales before payments to advertising agencies, should increase by 60% to 400 billion yuan ($63 billion).

Sources also told Reuters that the company's TikTok division is distancing itself from certain aggressive marketing campaigns. TikTok's head of global marketing Nick Tran has left the company for unspecified reasons. Tran was behind TikTok's efforts to help creators launch non-interchangeable tokens and for partnering with US company Virtual Dining Concepts to launch delivery service TikTok Kitchens. In an internal group chat, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming called the TikTok Kitchens campaign a "cheap marketing ploy," according to a Beijing media report.

ByteDance retained second place in the online advertising China market with a 21% market share in 2021, according to a report published by Interactive Marketing Lab Zhongguancun. The first place is still occupied by the e-commerce giant, and Alibaba Group the third place went to the gaming giant. Tencent Holdings The report also said overall online ad sales growth China in decreased to 9.3% in 2021 from 13.8% a year earlier.^[4]

In the list of companies with the largest R&D costs

The chart shows 12 months of data as of April 2023.
For Amazon shows the costs of technology and content (not R&D).
ByteDance statistics date back to 2021 (according to the Wall Street Journal)

History

2024

ByteDance founder becomes richest man in China

Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance (owns TikTok), has become the richest man in China with a fortune of $49.3 billion. This is stated in the materials of the Hurun Research Institute, published on October 29, 2024. Read more here.

Reduction of 1,000 employees

At the end of March 2024, it became known that the Chinese private Internet holding company ByteDance, which owns services such as TikTok and Xigua, is reorganizing. As part of this procedure, the number of personnel will be reduced by approximately 1 thousand people.

It is said that the layoffs will affect the Feishu division, which is engaged in the creation of a product of the same name for working communication with convenient functions. This app has an international version called Lark. The two services operate independently of each other and store user data separately, with Lark in Singapore and Feishu in Beijing.

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As of early 2024, the Feishu division has approximately 5,000 employees. Thus, the reduction will affect about 20% of the staff of this group. The bulk of the layoffs will occur in mainland China. Affected workers will receive monetary compensation, and some of them will be given the opportunity to move to other positions in the company.

After the reorganization, Feishu will continue to actively implement functions based on artificial intelligence. Such tools help you filter messages, search for files, etc. With AI still a priority for ByteDance, the company is cutting jobs across several divisions, such as the gaming group and Pico's virtual reality department. At the same time, ByteDance continues to hire specialists in the field of AI: the company has published more than 100 vacancies related to generative artificial intelligence, most of which are located in Singapore and the United States. Against this background, ByteDance reduced its staff in other sectors, in particular, in the educational services sector - due to changes in legislation that affected tutoring services.^[5]

2023: Baidu, ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba order $5 billion in processors for generative AI

On August 10, 2023, it became known that the Chinese companies Baidu, ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba ordered Nvidia chips for $5 billion to develop and maintain projects in the field of generative artificial intelligence. Read more here.

2022: Several hundred staff laid off

At the end of 2022, ByteDance laid off several hundred employees in various divisions. The measure has become part of the company that owns TikTok's strategy to cut big costs and streamline its business.

According to the South China Morning Post, employees working on the Douyin service (the Chinese analogue of TikTok, which has 600 million active users), as well as game projects, fell under the reduction. The personnel purge also affected employees involved in real estate operations. In addition, according to the Chinese publication, about 10% of the personnel in the development and development department of the Feishu collaboration tool (another name is Lark) have been laid off. It is reported that the dismissed will be paid compensation, the amount of which depends on the length of service, and the monthly salary.

TikTok owner laid off hundreds of employees

While this is not the first time ByteDance has resorted to layoffs, they concern a small share of the state. By the end of 2022, the company employs more than 100 thousand employees around the world. The South China Morning Post notes that job cuts are typically done to streamline business in China's technology sector, and employers often lay off underperforming employees. Other Chinese internet giants, including Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings, cut thousands of jobs in 2022, the publication said.

The layoffs came to light after ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo, who used to run the human resources department, sent a letter to employees at the end of December 2022 announcing the need for the company to "get it in shape and build muscles." This phrase was repeatedly used in 2022 in statements related to the optimization of the company's business.^[6]

2021

TikTok moderator sues social network for moral trauma from watching video

TikTok moderator Candy Frazier has filed a lawsuit against the social network and its parent company ByteDance for mental trauma caused by watching a candid video. This became known on December 25, 2021. Read more here.

Reduce employee hours to 8 hours per day

In October 2021, ByteDance Ltd. ordered its employees to finish the working day by 7 p.m., becoming one of the first technology companies in China to officially establish a reduced working day.

Employees in China are only required to work from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and will be required to request at least a day's overtime authorization, according to an internal document at Bloomberg's disposal.

The country's grueling work rhythm - known as "996" as employees often work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week - has drawn criticism and scrutiny from the government.

Negotiating the purchase of VR developer Pico

ByteDance is in talks to acquire Pico Interactive, the Chinese maker of virtual reality headsets, in August 2021 in search of new growth drivers, the sources said.

VR headsets are gaining popularity as more games and fitness apps use the technology.

ByteDance will join an already crowded space led by Facebook, which unveiled an updated Oculus Quest headset in 2020, becoming the best-selling VR headset worldwide. Apple is expected to release a rival VR device as early as 2022.

Purchase of Moonton gaming studio for $4 billion

At the end of March 2021, Chinese technology company and TikTok owner ByteDance acquired Moonton gaming studio for $4 billion. The acquisition was formalized through ByteDance's Nuverse video game division, according to Reuters. Read more here.

Sale of Oracle and Walmart of US segment TikTok postponed

In February 2021, it became known that the sale to Oracle and Walmart of the American segment of TikTok, the Chinese company ByteDance, was postponed for an indefinite period of time.

US President Joe Biden is at this time reviewing the steps of his predecessor Donald Trump to combat possible risks posed by Chinese technology companies.

2020

Revenue growth by 111%, to $34.3 billion, losses - $45 billion

In mid-June 2021, it became known about major losses to ByteDance, which develops the social network TikTok. At the end of 2020, the net losses of the Chinese company reached $45 billion, and revenue amounted to $34.3 billion, more than doubling (by 111%) compared to 2019, when the figure was measured at about $16.3 billion.

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing a letter circulated among ByteDance employees, the losses are associated with an accounting adjustment amid an increase in the fair value of convertible redeemable preferred shares. The publication explains that startups that attract third-party investments often have to take on such non-cash expenses as their valuation grows, if they prepare results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards.

TikTok owner ByteDance gets $45 billion loss for 2020

Excluding these and other adjustments, ByteDance registered an operating loss of $2.1 billion in 2020. Those losses were partly a consequence of rising emoluments costs for employees who own shares in the company, according to an informed WSJ source.

By the end of 2020, the monthly audience of ByteDance applications amounted to about 1.9 billion active users. The company, in addition to TikTok, is developing services such as Douyin (a kind of analogue of TikTok) and a news and information mobile application called Jinri Toutiao. The company's revenue from TikTok comes mainly from advertising.

According to Reuters, by June 2021, ByteDance remains one of the world's largest non-public technology companies - its estimated value is about $300 billion. The company was counting on revenue of $30 billion at the end of 2020, it turns out that it managed to overfulfill the plan.^[7]

Oracle to acquire US operations TikTok - WSJ

Chinese ByteDance Ltd., owner of TikTok, chose Oracle Corp. among American companies that claimed to acquire the operations of the popular short video exchange service in the United States, writes The Wall Street Journal on September 14, 2020, citing knowledgeable sources.

ByteDance intends to make a statement calling Oracle a "trusted technology partner" in the United States, the sources said.

The planned deal will not be a direct sale of TikTok assets, sources say. Rather, it will be some kind of partnership, despite the fact that individual ByteDance investors, including American investment companies Sequoia Capital and General Atlantic, will receive shares in the joint venture, which will be created as part of the transaction.

The next step should be approval of the deal by the White House and the US Foreign Investment Committee (CFIUS). The participants in the deal are confident that its terms should nullify concerns about the security of data from American TikTok users, voiced earlier by the US authorities.

China opposes TikTok sale to Americans

According to Reuters (September 2020), by selling the social network to the Americans, China will be at a disadvantage. According to the agency, the Chinese authorities believe that the forced sale of the TikTok segment will show weakness in both ByteDance, which owns the application, and China itself before pressure from Washington. The company's management said that the Chinese authorities did not advise her to close the segments of the application in the States or other states^[8].

The agency's interlocutors added that China could go to postpone the closure of the deal. To do this, Beijing can take advantage of the changes that were recently included in the list of technologies prohibited for export. Since the end of August, the export of technology used in TikTok has required special permission from the authorities. ByteDance did not confirm such plans.

There was a new unexpected buyer on TikTok

American retailer Walmart has announced its interest in acquiring the business of the Chinese video service TikTok in the United States. According to CNBC, he will not compete in this regard with Microsoft, which has been negotiating with TikTok for several weeks - he will join her^[9].

At the time of publication of the material, Walmart has already reached an agreement with Microsoft on a partnership. The only thing is that in the end the companies will divide the TikTok business among themselves not only in the United States, but also in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Walmart representatives did not specify why the company needed TikTok, and did not disclose their plans to use this service if the deal between the now three parties did take place. They only noted that such an acquisition would allow the retailer to expand its customer base and develop its own advertising business.

Microsoft signed an agreement to buy TikTok in the United States and several other countries

According to Business Insider^[10], on July 30, Microsoft signed a non-binding agreement with ByteDance of intent to buy TikTok's business in the United States. This happened a day before Donald Trump announced his readiness to block this service.

ByteDance believes that Microsoft will be a reliable technology partner, and this deal will keep TikTok's business in the United States. The fact of signing the agreement was kept secret and was revealed only in a lawsuit that TikTok filed against the US presidential administration in an attempt to challenge the upcoming blocking.

A day after that, on July 31, US President Trump told reporters that he had decided to block TikTok in the country. At the same time, sources Bloomberg reported on the negotiations between Microsoft and TikTok.

Trump allowed Microsoft to negotiate if the parties struck a deal within 45 days.

TikTok sues Trump administration in federal court over possible US ban on service

A spokesman for ByteDance, which owns the Chinese part of the social network, said in August that TikTok poses no threat to the security of users' personal data, as the company has taken "extraordinary measures to protect the privacy and security of American user data."

In addition, the company considers a possible ban on service in the United States an excuse to incite anti-Chinese sentiments before the presidential election.

One TikTok employee, Patrick Ryan, also sued the Trump administration over concerns that he and his colleagues would lose their jobs next month if the U.S. president's order was complied with.

Recall that the decision to block the service will enter into force on September 15, if, as Trump said, the social network is not acquired by an American company. The US President also banned any transactions with Chinese organizations that own the TikTok app and the WeChat social network

Oracle enters talks to buy TikTok

Oracle has entered the fight for the TikTok mobile app. The American company has already held preliminary negotiations with ByteDance, which owns the social network, Kommersant reported in August. We are talking about buying out business in the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Oracle has become the third American corporation to express a desire to acquire TikTok. Microsoft was the first to announce her interest. Moreover, if initially the company announced its intention to buy out TikTok's business in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, then information appeared in the media that Microsoft would like to receive the entire TikTok business. But ByteDance itself abandoned such a scenario.

A little later, Twitter entered the struggle for the Chinese social network. However, according to Financial Times sources, Jack Dorsey's company has limited itself to preliminary negotiations so far, while there are serious doubts about Twitter's ability to raise the amount necessary to buy TikTok. The exact cost of the Chinese social network is unknown, but earlier it was reported that Microsoft intends to pay $10-30 billion for the Chinese social network.

Trump imposes sanctions on TikTok and WeChat

In early August 2020, the president USA Donald Trump issued an order that prohibits the operation of applications for social networks TikTok WeChat and in the United States. The decree will come into force within 45 days.

In particular, from September 15, 2020, US citizens and companies will be prohibited from making any transactions with ByteDance, the owner of the TikTok application, as well as with its subsidiaries. Trump justified his decision by the fact that TikTok collects data about users, which means it can track the movements of employees of American government agencies, transfer this information to the PRC government or use it for blackmail. The president also noted that TikTok censors posts on topics that are politically disadvantageous to China, such as the Hong Kong protests.

US President imposes sanctions on TikTok and WeChat

Meanwhile, Microsoft said it was in talks to acquire the TikTok app. Trump announced that September 15 will be the deadline when TikTok can still find a buyer from the United States. Otherwise, the application will be banned. Trump also said that any deal with ByteDance should include a "substantial amount" that would come in the form of a tax to the US Treasury. Many are confident that the US government is using national security as an excuse to justify discriminatory policies against China and bring down the price as part of the deal.

In turn, TikTok management has repeatedly denied all accusations that the platform is controlled by the Chinese authorities or shares personal user data with them. The company said it was not going to leave the American market.

TikTok is loved by 100 million Americans because it is a territory of entertainment, expression and communication, said company spokesman Josh Gartner. - TikTok will remain in the US for many years.[11]

Construction of the first data center in Europe

In early August 2020, it became known about the construction of the first TikTok data center in Europe. ByteDance, which owns the service, is ready to invest 420 million euros in the opening of the Irish data center. It is expected to be operational by early 2022, however a more precise timeline will be known at a later date.

ByteDance promises to create hundreds of jobs, improve "TikTok user data protection" and reduce download times for users in Europe. After the new data center goes online, all data from EU users will be stored here. Against the backdrop of a sharp increase in the popularity of TikTok, the authorities of some countries, including the United States, began to raise concerns about the security of user data, claiming that the Beijing company ByteDance provides the Chinese authorities with access to personal information.

TikTok is building its first data centre in the EU

The company itself has repeatedly stated that it does not provide user data to the Chinese authorities and will never do so. So far, ByteDance stores international user data on servers in the United States and Singapore. However, in June, the European Information Protection Authority began checking the storage and processing of data of European TikTok users.

Expanding its activities within the EU, ByteDance is trying to prove that it is responsible for the data obtained and is a reliable service provider. As part of the development of the new data center, TikTok is also continuing to expand its data protection and privacy groups, the company said. Earlier in 2020, the company already opened an EMEA trust and security centre in Dublin. According to TikTok information security director Roland Cloutier, the new investment "speaks to our long-term commitment to Ireland."^[12]

Pavel Durov spoke out about the possible ban on TikTok in the United States

• "China prohibits almost all non-Chinese social media applications on its territory. If you want to access the markets of other countries, you also have to open your market for them - that would be fair ";
• The US "war" against TikTok sets a dangerous precedent "that could ultimately kill the Internet as a truly global network (or what remains of it)";
• "The U.S. has for decades acted as advocates for free trade and free speech, but now that China has begun replacing them as the main beneficiary of global trade, the U.S. (or at least the Trump administration) seems to have become less enthusiastic about those values";
• "the problem with the US and TikTok case is that it legitimizes extortion tactics previously used only by authoritarian regimes";
• "soon every big country is likely to use" national security "as an excuse to split international tech companies. And ironically, it is US companies like Facebook or Google that are likely to lose the most from the fallout "

Microsoft's intention to buy TikTok business in the United States and several other countries

On August 3, 2020, it became known that Microsoft is in preliminary negotiations to buy the TikTok short video platform in the United States and several other countries a few days after the Trump administration threatened to ban this popular service.

Microsoft said it would "within a few weeks" begin discussing a deal with the parent company, China's ByteDance, hoping to complete talks by September 15, 2020, and in the meantime continue dialogue with the United States government, including the President.

The company's blog says that Chief Executive Satya Nadella and President Donald Trump discussed this deal after the Trump Administration expressed concerns about the ownership of the social network by the Chinese side.

Microsoft said the two sides discussed a possible deal that involves buying the TikTok service in the United States, and To Canada Australia New Zealand, as a result, Microsoft will become the owner and operator of TikTok in these markets. Microsoft also said it could engage other U.S. stakeholders to participate in the deal as minority investors.

This structure will preserve the existing amenities and capabilities of TikTok that users have loved so much, adding to them security, security and protection of world-class digital content, writes Microsoft.

Among other things, Microsoft will ensure that all personal data of American TikTok users are transferred to the United States and will remain in the United States, the blog says. - Microsoft will ensure that all of this data - to the extent it is stored or backed up outside the United States - is removed from servers outside the country after it is moved.

The news of a possible deal with TikTok appeared on July 31, 2020, when Fox Business reporter Charles Gasparino tweeted that investment sources had confirmed to him that Microsoft was "in talks to buy" TikTok's US business.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has been investigating TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, since fall 2019 amid concerns that [[the Chinese Government | Chinese government]] may use TikTok to collect data on American citizens, Bloomberg reported. The committee is also concerned about the possible purchase of TikTok operations in the United States by Microsoft, Gasparino wrote in a tweet.

In earlier times, Microsoft was strongly focused on the consumer market, but in recent years, under the leadership of Satya Nadella, it has shifted its focus to serving business users. And in June 2020, Microsoft announced that it would completely close all of its retail stores around the world^[13].

Growth in market value to $100 billion - more than IBM

By May 20, 2020, the market value of ByteDance, which owns the social network TikTok, exceeded $100 billion, and turned out to be higher than IBM's capitalization.

According to Bloomberg, in two years the cost of ByteDance has grown by at least a third: in 2018, the company was valued at about $75 billion.

In May 2020, TikTok became more expensive than IBM

By May 2020, ByteDance had several non-public deals to sell its stakes. Several traders told the news agency that investors valued the owner of TikTok at $105-110 billion, and another interlocutor named a larger amount - $140 billion. By May 26, 2020, IBM's capitalization is 108.37 billion.

At the same time, as the newspaper notes, private investment transactions may not fully reflect the broader picture of investors' expectations.

In April 2020, a consortium of investors led by the fund acquired part of Bytedance's shares. The Tiger Global Management consortium also included Japanese Softbank American the Sequoia Capital fund.

The May 20, 2020 publication also reports that ByteDance has become a powerful force in recent years, Bloomberg emphasizes. This is partly facilitated by the success of the social network TikTok, but the company's applications also include Douyin (the Chinese " twin" TikTok) and the news service Toutiao. 

The increased cost elevates ByteDance to the level of giants such as financial conglomerate HSBC and IT corporation IBM, Bloomberg notes.

The publication recalls that earlier there were rumors about the upcoming placement of shares in ByteDance on an exchange outside of China. But before that, the company decided to focus on expanding its staff and strengthening its position in the international market. So, in May 2020  , Kevin Mayer was appointed CEO of the TikTok service, who left the post of head of the Disney + streaming service^[14]

2019: Opening an office in Russia

The Chinese company ByteDance, which owns the popular social network for creating short videos Tik Tok, opened an office in Moscow in September 2019.

According  to RBC, citing an informed source and a commercial real estate broker, ByteDance opened an office on Bolshaya Yakimanka in Moscow - the premises were rented from the WeWork coworking network.

Photos from the official opening of the office were posted by Instagram users. Vacancies for  the ByteDance office in Moscow are posted on the HeadHunter website and other recruitment services. In the summer of 2019, the company hired a director of advertising sales in Russia - Stepan Slyusarev became it.

In July 2019, ByteDance representatives met with the management of Roskomnadzor to discuss the service's compliance with Russian legislation and the localization of Russian user databases in Russia. ByteDance representatives said they were ready to create a full-fledged representative office "authorized to make legally significant decisions at the request of the Russian authorities."^[15]

Notes