Shou Zi Chew is the CEO of TikTok: he has the highest level of day to day leadership. You may also see his name as Shou Chew. Adam Presser leads a different organisation, TikTok USDS Joint Venture in the United States. If you read about a new boss at TikTok, check which organisation the report refers to.
Below, you can read when Chew started and how to distinguish the different names in the news.
Since when has Shou Zi Chew been CEO of TikTok?
Shou Zi Chew has led TikTok since 2021. CEO is an English abbreviation for the highest day to day executive of a company. This role does not mean that he personally reviews every video or decides what you see on your screen.
This short timeline shows where the different names come from:
- 30 April 2021: TikTok announced that Chew had become CEO. You can read this in the official announcement of his appointment.
- A later announcement from the United States: the announcement from TikTok USDS Joint Venture names Shou Chew as CEO of TikTok and Adam Presser as CEO of TikTok USDS Joint Venture.
So, this is not about two people holding the same role. The announcements concern the leadership of different organisations.
What is the difference between the leadership of TikTok, ByteDance and USDS?
TikTok worldwide and TikTok USDS are not the same organisation. The person leading the American organisation is therefore not TikTok’s global boss.
The CEO of TikTok and the CEO of ByteDance are also different roles. Chew is therefore not the boss of ByteDance simply because he leads TikTok.
Suppose you see the headline “TikTok gets a new CEO”. Open the report and look for the full company name. Does it say TikTok USDS Joint Venture? Then it concerns the American organisation, not TikTok’s global leadership.
What does TikTok’s leadership mean for the Netherlands and Belgium?
This distinction mainly helps you understand news about TikTok. A new director at the American organisation does not automatically mean that anything changes for your account in the Netherlands or Belgium.
If you read about privacy, oversight or changes to the app, check which country or area the news applies to. The Netherlands and Belgium are part of the European Union. News about the United States therefore does not automatically tell you what applies to European users.
Do you want to know whether you need to do anything yourself? Look in the report for a specific change affecting your country or account. The name of a director alone does not answer that question. If you also publish your own content, our TikTok services includes packages for followers and likes. The product pages show the available quantities and prices.
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