[ByteDance Plans to Buy Back $6 Billion Worth of Shares, Valuing the Company at $400 Billion, and Offers 300 Million Incentives to AI Employees] According to a shareholder letter obtained by *The Information*, ByteDance plans to buy back up to $6 billion worth of shares from existing investors at a valuation of approximately $400 billion. The offer price is $241.35 per share, approximately 20% higher than the $200.41 offered in November last year. ByteDance also proposed extending the deadline for external shareholders to demand the company repurchase all their shares from December 11th of this year to December 11th, 2030. This right was originally intended as a fallback for investors in unlisted companies. If ByteDance delays its IPO, shareholders can demand the company buy back all their shares by the agreed deadline. This deadline had already been extended from 2022 to 2026, and now they want to push it back another four years. ByteDance is willing to offer up to $6 billion to some investors to cash out initially, but hopes to postpone the full exit deadline for the remaining shareholders. In January, ByteDance reached an agreement with the US government to transfer approximately 80% of the equity in TikTok's US data security business to a US-controlled joint venture, while retaining its main revenue-generating business. This avoided a US ban and removed a major obstacle to a future IPO. However, ByteDance still does not have a clear IPO timetable. The $400 billion valuation is only for this buyback and not ByteDance's highest valuation in the private market. In April, one of ByteDance's founding shareholders sought to sell approximately $900 million worth of shares, representing a company valuation exceeding $600 billion. The shareholder letter also disclosed a new AI talent incentive program: ByteDance plans to provide a total of 300 million incentive shares linked to the value of its AI business to its AI employees to retain key talent. ByteDance previously launched a similar "beanbag stock" program, allowing employees to share in the profits generated by the growth of its AI business, but the specific allocation and redemption rules for the new program have not yet been announced. ByteDance is investing heavily in AI. In the first half of this year, the company's revenue increased by approximately 30% year-on-year, reaching $120 billion, while net profit declined slightly year-on-year to approximately $20 billion, mainly due to increased investment in AI. [Original Link]