ByteDance was founded in 2012 by a team led by Yiming Zhang and Rubo Liang, who saw opportunities in the then-nascent mobile internet market, and aspired to build platforms that could enrich people's lives. The company launched Toutiao, one of its flagship products, in August 2012. It followed that success with the launch of Douyin in September 2016. Approximately a year later, ByteDance accelerated globalization with the launch of its global short video product, TikTok. It quickly took off in markets like Southeast Asia, signaling a new opportunity for the company. ByteDance acquired Musical.ly in November 2017 and subsequently merged it with TikTok. Today, the TikTok platform, which is available outside of China, has become the leading destination for short-form mobile videos worldwide.

In support of its mission to Inspire Creativity and Enrich Life, ByteDance has made it easy and fun for people to connect with, create and consume content. People are also able to discover and transact with a suite of more than a dozen products and services such as TikTok, CapCut, TikTok Shop, Lark, Pico and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, as well as products and services specific to the China market, including Toutiao, Douyin, Fanqie, Xigua, Feishu and Douyin E-commerce.

ByteDance has over 150,000 employees based out of nearly 120 cities globally, including Austin, Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, and Tokyo.