TikTok will begin financing emerging creators on its short-form video platform with a $200 million fund that it announced today, an unusual move by a social media company and one that comes after several weeks of concerns about TikTok’s future.



The company, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, didn’t provide many specific details about how it will give out that money or who may qualify for it. It may be directed toward users from minority groups—with the press release about the fund’s debut singling out creators like Boman Martinez-Reid, a LGBTQ comedian who has signed with CAA, and Tabitha Brown, who’s become famous for her videos about family life and veganism.



TikTok is in a multi-front battle right now. The Trump Administration is considering banning the app over concerns it may share data with the Chinese government, and the users who flocked to TikTok over the past year have been exploring other platforms for their content. In the past few weeks, TikTokers have posted videos urging their fans to also follower them on apps like Instagram, while others have turned to rival music-and-video apps such as Dubsmash and Byte to produce work.



The best way to keep them on TikTok is to offer a clear path toward earning money. Instagram and other social platforms have struggled to do that, and YouTube’s ad-sharing scheme—based on the views generated by someone’s videos—remains the quickest and simplest monetization for influencers. Companies such as Chipotle and E.L.F. cosmetics are already paying for sponsored content on TikTok, where influencers post videos advertising these companies for a fee, as much as six figures now for the top stars. But those deals are typically hashed out between the brands and the influencers without the social media companies getting involved.



TikTok’s $200 million fund is a different step, something neither Instagram nor YouTube have done. It theoretically would allow more creators to flourish as they start out and begin searching for commercial work, such as the sponsored content posts.



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/">Abram Brown</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/business">Business</a>

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TikTok Launches $200 Million Fund To Finance Up-And-Coming Stars

TikTok, the ultra-popular short-form video app, has hired a top Walt Disney&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/walt-disney" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DIS</a>&nbsp;Co. executive to be its new CEO.



Kevin Mayer, who ran Disney’s video-streaming business, will also serve as the chief operating officer of ByteDance, the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok. Mayer was seen as a favorite to get the top job at Disney but was passed over to replace Bob Iger in favor of Bob Chapek earlier this year.



“Kevin has had an extraordinary impact on our company over the years,” Chapek <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://v/" target="_blank">said in a statement</a>. “Having worked alongside Kevin for many years on the senior management team, I am enormously grateful to him for his support and friendship.”



Disney has been badly damaged by the pandemic as Covid-19 forced it to close its lucrative parks and cruise line businesses. Iger has taken back some control over the company—he remains the executive chairman—while Disney rushed to assemble a $6 billion debt offering in March. It has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/04/22/disney-furloughs-100000-workers-while-top-executives-will-still-get-big-bonuses/">furloughed workers and cut pay</a>&nbsp;with Chapek agreeing to halve his salary and Iger agreeing to forgo one entirely.



Mayer could not be leaving for a more different environment. TikTok was already a big hit before lockdown—and has seen its popularity soar since. It was downloaded more than 315 million times in the first quarter, according to data from SensorTower, which tracks app downloads. That figure represents the most downloads in a single quarter that SensorTower has ever counted up.



Mayer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnchmielewski/2020/02/27/did-bob-chapek-win-disneys-latest-game-of-thrones---or-is-it-just-starting/#3738a7f17251">was the deals guy</a>&nbsp;at Disney, acquiring Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Fox. And there was nothing more important to Disney recently than the expansion of its streaming business, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbean/2020/04/08/report-disney-overtakes-netflix-as-top-streaming-app-in-2020/#2d35cc817aa6">has proven a success</a>. Disney+ launched last year and was downloaded 14.1 times in 2019, more than even Netflix&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/netflix" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NFLX</a>&nbsp;(11.9 million) or Hulu (8.1 million). Disney said it&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dawnchmielewski/2019/11/12/disney-plus-launches-capstone-bob-iger-tenure/#27a9432b2dd1">would spend $1 billion in the first year</a>&nbsp;alone on original content for the streaming service, building out a line-up that already includes the Star Wars series&nbsp;The Mandalorian&nbsp;and soon a recorded version of the musical&nbsp;Hamilton.



Mayer will face some challenges ahead at TikTok. It has become an off-and-on-again target of criticism that its Chinese ownership makes it a security risk. And a group of 20 advocacy groups last week&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/05/14/tiktok-isnt-keeping-its-promises-to-better-protect-kids-critic-groups-say/">filed an FTC complaint</a>&nbsp;that it hadn’t lived up to a deal reached with regulators last year to better protect children using its app.



He replaces Alex Zhu, one of the founders of Music.ly, the China-based app that ByteDance <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2017/11/10/lip-syncing-video-app-musical-ly-has-been-sold-possibly-for-1-billion/#48312e1a1443">bought in 2017</a> and turned into TikTok. Zhu had made efforts to do what Mayer will now have to do: convince America that TikTok isn’t a threat.



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/">Abram Brown</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/business">Business</a>

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As TikTok Takes Over America, It’s Making A Disney Executive Its New CEO

Zhang Yiming, the 36-year-old Chinese billionaire founder of social media app TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, has pledged $10 million to the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, a project founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Other donors to the Accelerator include the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Michael &amp; Susan Dell Foundation, and singer Madonna.&nbsp;



“While [Zhang] has met Bill Gates a couple of times in passing, he does not know him well but has tremendous respect for Bill and Melinda Gates’ systematic approach and ongoing efforts in contributing to philanthropy,” a spokesperson for Zhang said. “He sees them as an inspiration for all entrepreneurs fortunate enough to be in a position to give back to the community.”&nbsp;



The Accelerator was launched in March as a $125 million fund, initially backed by the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and Mastercard. In <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2020/04/03/a-bill-gates-backed-accelerator-for-covid-19-coronavirus-therapeutics-treatment-partners-with-madonna-and-mark-zuckerbergs-chan-zuckerberg-initiative/#d007e668067a">early April</a>, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s philanthropic arm CZI announced a $25 million gift to the fund. The U.K. government and Madonna also became donors; the size of their gifts were undisclosed.



The Accelerator’s mission is to coordinate research, remove barriers to drug development, and scale up treatments to the coronavirus with fast and flexible funding, according to the Accelerator’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.therapeuticsaccelerator.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>. It is working with the World Health Organization, researchers, governments, the private sector and global regulators to fast track drugs related to COVID-19.



“Philanthropic, government and private sector organizations, as well as individuals like Zhang Yiming demonstrate the wide array of donors who understand the value of collaboration in developing effective drugs  to help turn the tide of this pandemic,” said Trevor Mundel, president of the global health division at the Gates Foundation. “Until we have a vaccine, expanded testing, isolation and treatment are our best options.”



Forbes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2019/11/04/meet-zhang-yiming-the-chinese-billionaire-behind-tiktok/#466a82ad75b3">pegs</a>&nbsp;Zhang’s net worth at $16.2 billion, based on his estimated ownership of about one quarter of ByteDance. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Beijing, the privately held company last raised financing in 2018 at a massive $75 billion valuation.&nbsp;



TikTok launched in 2016 and reached international markets the next year. The short video app, which has around 625 million users worldwide, according to App Annie, appeals particularly to the Gen Z demographic.&nbsp;



This is the first known significant philanthropic donation by Zhang.&nbsp;



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/">Angel Au-Yeung</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/worlds-billionaires">Billionaires</a>

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Billionaire Behind TikTok Commits $10 Million To A Bill Gates-Backed Accelerator For COVID-19 Therapeutics Treatments

Topline:&nbsp;In order to continue global growth, ByteDance (parent company of the wildly popular social media app TikTok) will reportedly launch a&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.ft.com/content/ffaed23a-07dd-11ea-a984-fbbacad9e7dd" target="_blank">music streaming service</a>&nbsp;as soon as next month and is potentially exploring ways to&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-looking-at-ways-to-shake-off-its-ties-to-china-11574073001?mod=djem10point" target="_blank">remake its image</a>&nbsp;in advance of a rumored 2020 public offering.&nbsp;



<ul><li>The&nbsp;Financial Times&nbsp;reported Sunday that ByteDance is in talks to secure global licensing rights from Warner Music, Universal Music and Sony Music, the world’s largest record companies.&nbsp;</li><li>ByteDance’s still-unnamed music streaming service will reportedly cost less than $10 per month, undercutting monthly subscription fees charged by rivals Spotify and Apple, and will kick off with initial launch markets in Brazil, Indonesia and India; ByteDance declined to comment.</li><li>Those countries could be a tough sell⁠—according to a May 12&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-20/tiktok-owner-to-challenge-spotify-and-apple-with-music-service" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg report</a>, paid music subscriptions are mainly a Western phenomenon, while the most popular music apps in Asia are YouTube and Tencent’s QQ Music, both of which are free.</li><li>Meanwhile, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktok-looking-at-ways-to-shake-off-its-ties-to-china-11574073001?mod=djem10point" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;reported Monday that Beijing-based ByteDance, facing growing concern from U.S. lawmakers over its user-<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-launches-national-security-review-of-video-app-tiktok-11572641964?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data storage</a>&nbsp;and content&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/9/20906971/tiktok-censorship-china-bytedance-musically-marco-rubio-senate-mnuchin-cfius-treasury" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">censorship</a>&nbsp;practices, is searching for ways to distance itself from its Chinese roots.</li><li>Potential rebranding moves include relocating its operations to Singapore and renaming TikTok, which the company denied, according to the&nbsp;WSJ.</li><li>Both the&nbsp;FT&nbsp;and&nbsp;WSJ&nbsp;reported ByteDance was aiming to IPO sometime next year, which ByteDance also denied to both outlets.&nbsp;</li></ul>



Big number:&nbsp;$78 billion. That was ByteDance’s last reported valuation, making it one of the&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/30/tiktok-owner-bytedances-first-half-revenue-better-than-expected-at-over-7-billion-sources.html" target="_blank">most valuable</a>&nbsp;startups in the world.



What to watch for:&nbsp;When ByteDance’s music streaming service actually launches. And if it moves the needle on paid music subscriptions in Asia. China’s Tencent has 800 million music users, but&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/ffaed23a-07dd-11ea-a984-fbbacad9e7dd" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">less than 5%</a>&nbsp;of them pay for it.&nbsp;



Key background:&nbsp;TikTok made a name for itself as the first Chinese social network to achieve success in the U.S with over 100 million Americans as registered users. It surged in popularity this year as teens flock to the app to make lighthearted pranks, comedy sketches and lip-syncing videos. It’s also the third-most-downloaded app in Apple’s App Store, but it came at a price. According to the&nbsp;WSJ, ByteDance poured&nbsp;<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/tiktoks-videos-are-goofy-its-strategy-to-dominate-social-media-is-serious-11561780861?mod=article_inline" target="_blank">$1 billion&nbsp;</a>into advertising and flooded rivals Facebook and Instagram with ads.&nbsp;



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/">Lisette Voytko</a>

Tag: ByteDance

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

TikTok Launches $200 Million Fund To Finance Up-And-Coming Stars

As TikTok Takes Over America, It’s Making A Disney Executive Its New CEO

Billionaire Behind TikTok Commits $10 Million To A Bill Gates-Backed Accelerator For COVID-19 Therapeutics Treatments

TikTok Owner ByteDance Continues Expansion Efforts With Music Streaming And Possible Rebrand