TikTok names ByteDance’s Chew Shou Zi as new CEO
- The CFO of the short video app’s Chinese company fills the top spot after the departure of Kevin Mayer last year
- Vanessa Pappas, who has served as interim head, was named chief operating officer
TikTok, the popular short-video app, named ByteDance Chief Financial Officer Chew Shou Zi as chief executive officer, filling the top leadership position after the departure of Kevin Mayer last year. Vanessa Pappas, who has served as interim head, was named chief operating officer.
Chew, who joined TikTok parent ByteDance last month, will remain in his post at the Chinese company, according to a statement Friday. Previously, Chew spent several years as CFO and international business president of Xiaomi Corp., where he took the gadget maker public in one of the largest-ever Chinese tech listings on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Chew, who hails from Singapore, is fluent in English and Chinese. He is experienced in navigating the halls of Chinese tech companies and the boardrooms of banks like Goldman Sachs, where he spent time in its investment banking unit.
He also previously worked for Yuri Milner’s DST Global, which took a chance on ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming as an early investor in the company. The move to hire Chew is a sign ByteDance is moving toward an initial public offering of some of its businesses.
06:02
Global expansion of TikTok and other Chinese tech companies is likely, only not in the West
TikTok is still enjoying explosive popularity, but Chew will have to navigate the political tensions between the US and China as well as increasing concerns about data privacy, especially involving children who populate the app.
“The leadership team of Shou and Vanessa sets the stage for sustained growth,” Zhang said in the statement.
