TikTok Stock: Can You Invest?

TikTok is practically inescapable these days, but that doesn’t mean you can buy its stock.

No. Neither TikTok, nor its parent company ByteDance, are publicly traded companies, so you cannot purchase stock in either of them. However, there are some ways to gain exposure to TikTok or buy shares in other social media platforms.

While you can’t directly invest in TikTok stock, there are a few roundabout ways to gain exposure to it.

The first is to invest in publicly traded companies that hold privately held shares of ByteDance, such as SoftBank Group (SFTBY) ^[0]

The second is to work for TikTok. TikTok employees, of which there are about 7,000 in the U.S., may be granted company stock, and they may also have an opportunity to sell their investments.

According to a Reuter’s report, people familiar with the matter stated that ByteDance will allow its shares held by U.S. employees to vest, meaning that those employees can cash out their restricted shares. Once their shares vest, U.S. employees can exchange their shares for cash through the company’s stock buyback program ^[0]

But just because you can gain some slight exposure to TikTok doesn’t mean you should. Going to such an effort to gain exposure to one stock may not be worth your time. If you’re looking to build long-term wealth, a better strategy may be to invest in funds that hold the stock of many companies, such as index funds or exchange-traded funds.

It’s hard to say. A few years ago there were reports that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, was planning to go public, but that has yet to happen. Moreover, Reuters’ exclusive report suggested ByteDance’s move to allow its U.S. employees to cash in their vested shares is a sign that the company may not be planning to go public anytime soon.

ByteDance is under a lot of pressure to sell TikTok. Currently, ByteDance will have to sell TikTok by Jan. 19, 2025, or the social media platform will be banned in the U.S. The ban will prohibit app stores from offering TikTok and will prevent internet hosting services from supporting it. There have been several challenges to the law — including lawsuits from TikTok content creators and one from TikTok itself. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear oral arguments for the case in September 2024.

What does this mean for a potential TikTok stock? The future is uncertain, but if a public company buys TikTok, you may be able to buy stock in that company.

One of the main social media platform sites you can buy stock in is Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp). You can also buy stock in Pinterest.