ByteDance CEO ‘Working Overtime’ To Devise TikTok Solution

ByteDance Ltd. is exploring all possibilities to resolve an intensifying confrontation with Washington, Chief Executive Officer Zhang Yiming said, stressing the world’s largest startup has made no final decision on options like a sale of TikTok U.S. to Microsoft Corp.

Beijing-based ByteDance has come under pressure from the White House and U.S. lawmakers to sell off its U.S. TikTok operations and now has a 45-day deadline on negotiations with Microsoft over such a deal. The company had tried to appease regulators -- who worry about its data collection and potential connection to the Chinese government -- by distancing its domestic operations from the popular video app, hiring nearly a thousand staff in the U.S. and appointing Walt Disney Co. veteran Kevin Mayer as TikTok CEO. But Zhang said efforts so far to assuage Washington’s concerns may have fallen short.