TikTok, the Chinese company, eventually hired a new permanent chief executive nine months after its former CEO was fired as the United States was intimidating to ban the app.
The firm on Friday issued a statement that it had hired Shouzi Chew as the new CEO. He joined the firm earlier this year as Chief Financial Officer of TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance. He had initially been an executive at Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone company, according to CNN International.
TikTok’s former interim head, Vanessa Pappas, is now moving to the role of a chief operating officer of the company.
“The leadership team of Vanessa and Shou sets the stage for sustainable growth,” Yiming Zhang, ByteDance CEO, said in an interview.
“Shou, having led a team that was among our initial investors, will bring deep knowledge of the industry and company operations. He also served in the technology sector for ten years. He will add depth to the company, focusing on areas including long-term business initiatives and corporate governance.”
Chew works from his hometown Singapore, stating that the company feels the need for a US-based executive.
Last year it had appointed an American executive- Disney chairman Kevin Mayer- for the CEO’s job, in a move that was extensively seen as a try to win over US lawmakers.
Mayer was fired just four months into the job, mentioning the massive shift in “the political scenario.” The company then promoted Pappas, who since then served as general manager of US operations of TikTok.
TikTok gained massive popularity in the United States, with approximately 100 million users in the country.
