- But sources at TikTok told the FT the firm's spending is partly to blame for lower ad revenue.TikTok has cut its global ad revenue target by around $2 billion in response to slumping sales, sources told the Financial Times in a report published Wednesday.According to four sources speaking to the Financial Times, the revised forecast came after Chew called out employees for a lack of sales in advertising and e-commerce — where the bulk of the social platform's profits come from — during a virtual all-hands meeting in late September.But the sources said the ByteDance-owned company is also to blame for the lowered projection, claiming TikTok has been offering junior-level employees six-figure salaries to poach talent from competitors.Two sources with knowledge of TikTok's budgets told the FT that the company reportedly spent $2.9 million on an internal event called "Evolve" held in Spain."