The US agency “Bloomberg” reported, on Wednesday, that the value of the “ByteDance” company amounted to about $ 220 billion, with the entry of a recent investment in it by the Abu Dhabi Artificial Intelligence Company “G42”.
The agency stated that this amount is much lower than the valuation set by the Chinese company, which owns the “Tik Tok” platform, at $ 300 billion, when the company implemented the recent share buyback program.
The agency stated in its report that “G42”, affiliated to Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was recently appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in addition to his position as the National Security Adviser of the UAE, acquired in recent months this share, whose value exceeds 100 million. dollars, in the Chinese company from investors, through the “X42” fund (42X), according to what Bloomberg quoted, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Chinese internet company’s price decline reflects the uncertainty that has arisen since Washington indicated it might be open to banning the TikTok platform, which lawmakers have accused of posing a threat to national security. TikTok’s leadership is discussing the possibility of separating from the Chinese parent company to help address these concerns, according to Bloomberg.
And “Bloomberg” reported that Sheikh Tahnoun, “known as the head of espionage in the UAE,” built a portfolio through his company, “G42”, whose operations extend in everything from cloud computing to vaccines and automated cars.
According to the agency, last year, artificial intelligence company Tahnoon established a $10 billion “X42” fund, which has additional financial backers, to invest in technology companies across emerging markets.
Tahnoon “G42” recently hired the former chief investment officer of JD.com China, Jason Hu, to expand its presence across Asia, according to the agency.
And “Bloomberg” believes that the Middle Eastern “G42” company may be betting on the potential of “ByteDance” in the long term, as the booming Chinese economy supports technology giants after conditions deteriorated during the “Covid-19” epidemic.
Bloomberg indicated that X42 representatives declined to comment. A ByteDance spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
