TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew has had a splendid career that he started as a Facebook intern. He faced US lawmakers about the app’s potential ban on Thursday, March 23, 2023. During the five-hour session, he shared some hot takes while calming the concerns about the social media app’s connection to China and data privacy.
Following the meeting, TikTok’s CEO also shared a video on the platform talking about what to expect if the app gets banned from the United States. Currently, it stands at the high stakes of millions of users’ entertainment, creativity, interactions, and small businesses. Amidst this typhoon is TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew.
Shou Zi Chew rises from Facebook’s intern to being the face of the world’s largest social network
The 40-year-old Singaporean came from a relatively modest background. His father worked in the construction business and his mother in bookkeeping. At the age of 12, Chew passed national examinations with splendid colors and enrolled in an elite high school.
After achieving fluency in Mandarin and English, he joined the Singaporean army, and is slated to remain a reservist officer for 10 more years. Following his military service, Chew attended University College in London and obtained his bachelor’s degree in economics.
He spend the next two years in the United Kingdom working for Goldman Sachs as an investment banker gaining experience that will help him land the position of chief executive at TikTok. Further in 2010, Chew obtained his MBA from Harward Business School and landed an internship at Facebook.
This became his first step in the world of social networking while the pioneer company was still in its startup era before going public in 2012. This is also where he met his future wife Vivian Kao. Together they have two children who aren’t yet allowed to own a TikTok account as they are still young.
Shou Zi Chew’s flight to China started from DST
Following business school, TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew joined venture capital DST. It is founded by Israeli-Russian IT billionaire Yuri Milner. Chew joined the team as a China-focused partner due to his Mandarin qualifications.
This serendipitous decision led him to TikTok’s founder Zhang’s ByteDance company in 2012. Following it, the team created TikTok and Chew invested next year along with the support of his partners. Their partnership steadily progressed until 2021 when Zhang pursued Chew to join him as the chief financial officer.
Within two months, Shou Zi Chew was promoted to chief executive due to the sudden departure of former Disney executive Kevin Myers who joined the company just three months before. These months were challenging for TikTok as Trump’s administration attempted to force a sale of the social media’s U.S. assets.
Apart from his stellar performance as TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew has also previously led the investment in Xiaomi. He joined the Chinese smartphone maker in 2015 as the chief financial officer and spearheaded their venture into the global market.
TikTok's CEO, Shou Chew, faced over five hours of questioning from lawmakers of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, reflecting their distrust of the popular video app over its ties to China, data practices and the app's potential effects on children. https://t.co/QctiF4yaXj pic.twitter.com/CwzDS6xNBU
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 23, 2023
Shou Zi Chew’s notable contributions to the tech industry achieved him a spot in Forbes 40 under 40 list in 2021. The low-profile executive is now taking pivotal steps as TikTok’s CEO to avert a ban in the United States and other countries.
It will be interesting to see how his attempts in the heated discussion with United States lawmakers fare for the future of TikTok. Apart from U.S. TikTok is completely or partially banned in India, Canada, Taiwan, European Union, Pakistan, and Afghanistan over security concerns.
You may check out what a U.S. ban could mean for users in our previous article and also follow Spiel Times for more global insights into entertainment, gaming, and sports.
