TikTok, U.S. Big Banks, and the Billion-Dollar Beauty Boom: ByteDance’s $10.8B Loan
In September 2024, ByteDance, which is the Chinese parent company of TikTok, secured a $10.8 billion loan from a consortium of international lenders, including major U.S. banks Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase. While the size of the loan drew attention from financial media, its impact extends well beyond Wall Street. This move highlights the increasingly tight link between digital platforms, consumer culture, and the global beauty economy.
TikTok, once seen primarily as a Gen Z platform, has evolved into a global retail engine, especially in sectors like cosmetics and skincare. For beauty brands, this financial infusion into TikTok’s parent company is not just a footnote in tech finance, it’s a signal of major shifts ahead in commerce, culture, and control.
TikTok’s influence on beauty trends is now well-documented. From viral “no makeup” looks to product sellouts driven by micro-influencers, the app has become a top discovery engine for beauty products. For indie and clean beauty brands in particular, TikTok provides a direct line to millions of engaged consumers with a preference for authenticity and transparency.
Cosmetics and skincare—especially clean, sustainable, and cruelty-free offerings—are among the top-selling categories on TikTok Shop, the app’s in-house e-commerce platform. ByteDance’s massive loan will be used in part to expand this commerce infrastructure, enabling faster shipping, better payment options, and more robust support for sellers.
While discussions about a potential TikTok ban in the U.S. have been prevalent, it’s increasingly evident that an outright ban is highly unlikely. The fact that major NYC-headquartered banks like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase provided ByteDance with such a significant loan, and reportedly coordinated the financing, suggests a commitment that would be hard to reconcile with any immediate plans to shut down TikTok. The issue isn’t necessarily about the platform’s continued operation, it’s about control, how much influence global powers, including the U.S., want over platforms that shape culture, commerce, and personal data.
French tech mogul Xavier Niel and ByteDance board member (who just happens to be partners with the daughter of Bernard Arnault, founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company) captured this tension in an interview when he said the following:
“I don’t want my kids relying on US algorithms.” If there’s going to be bias, says Niel, he wants that bias to be European. “I love the US. That’s not the point. But we are completely different in our way of seeing the world.”
Source: Wired
As ByteDance platforms like TikTok challenge the traditional dominance of Silicon Valley, the battle for control–over both algorithms and cultural narratives, has become a defining issue of this era.
ByteDance’s $10.8 billion loan is more than just a headline. It’s a marker of how ByteDance platforms like TikTok are reshaping not just retail, but also global culture. In the beauty industry where products meet personal identity, and where trends are born online the implications are profound.