Hong Kong — TikTok’s co-creator and former chief will oversee ByteDance’s investment arm, heading up the search for the company’s next breakthrough app and stepping further away from the viral video sensation that’s been caught in the crosshairs of US-China tensions.
Zhu’s new role in leading ByteDance’s equity deals and content acquisitions comes as the company grows its business at home while it fights increasing global scrutiny of TikTok. The Trump administration is mulling a ban on TikTok, while India has already prohibited its use in a wide-ranging ban of Chinese apps that includes Tencent Holdings’s WeChat.
ByteDance has repeatedly denied it shares user information with Beijing and has sought to distance TikTok from its Chinese roots. Hiring Mayer is one of the steps the Beijing-based company has taken to assuage international concerns.