Nov 2, 2021 - Economy

TikTok owner ByteDance reorganizing into 6 units

Rebecca Falconer

An employee walks outside the headquarters of ByteDance, the owner of video sharing app TikTok, in Beijing on August 5, 2020. — Photo: Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will step down from his role as chief financial officer of parent company ByteDance to "dedicate his time solely" on the short video platform, Reuters first reported.

Why it matters: The move is part of a major overhaul that will also see the creation of six business units, ByteDance CEO and co-founder Rubo Liang said Tuesday in a memo to staff, the details of which were also obtained by Axios.

It's the biggest corporate shakeup at the Beijing-based company since ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming announced plans to step down last May — though he's still chair and retains 50% of voting rights, Reuters notes.

Details: Per the memo, the six business units established under the new structure will be TikTok; Douyin, ByteDance's Chinese version of TikTok; education tech arm Dali Education; work collaboration unit Lark; business services platform BytePlus; and gaming unit Nuverse.

Flashback: Bytedance is recovering from a tumultuous couple of years that saw it come under frequent criticism from former President Trump, who ordered TikTok to sell its U.S. operations to a domestic buyer when he was in office, citing security concerns.

Last year saw former Disney streaming chief Kevin Mayer resign as CEO of TikTok just three months into the job and a bidding war between Microsoft and Oracle.
Talk of spinning out TikTok's U.S. operations into an independent entity dissipated once President Biden took office.

Add Axios on Google

TikTok owner ByteDance reorganizing into 6 units

What to read next