As others have mentioned, this hacker news headline is deceptive. The valuation is with respect to ByteDance, which has a business suite beyond TikTok. Even the article headline mentions this: "TikTok Owner’s Value Exceeds $100 Billion in Private Markets"
There are other facts about ByteDance such as having nearly 100k employees and a moderately size AI research lab that makes this news less surprising.
There are other facts about ByteDance such as having nearly 100k employees and a moderately size AI research lab that makes this news less surprising.