China-based ByteDance offered to buy back shares from some current and former U.S. staff at US$160 each, sources told The Information. That implies a US$223.5-billion valuation—down nearly 26 per cent from US$300 billion in September 2022. (The Information)

Talking point: ByteDance offered a different deal to staff who left it or TikTok for reasons other than layoffs, saying it would buy back their shares at US$128 each. That would imply a US$179-billion valuation. The Information also got rare access to the privately held company’s financials, which showed a 34 per cent jump in revenue in the first quarter of the year, a slight slowdown compared to the same time last year. It generated more cash flow from its operations, with total cash holdings at US$30.4 billion by the end of the quarter, giving it more ability to fund an aggressive live-shopping expansion in the U.S. Meanwhile, TikTok said it will stop facilitating e-commerce transactions on TikTok Shop in Indonesia—a key market for the company—after regulators in the country ordered social commerce firms to stop handling online purchase payments.