Shou Chew once did an internship at Facebook. It was the summer of 2009, and he was studying at the elite Harvard University. At the time, he probably would not have thought that one day he would lead the fiercest competitor of the American Internet company. Since 2021, he has been CEO of Tiktok, the video app belonging to the Chinese Bytedance Group, whose triumph is considered a major reason for the current turbulence of Facebook's parent company Meta.
Roland Lindner
Business correspondent in New York.
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On Thursday, the 40-year-old TikTok boss experienced one of the most difficult moments in his steep career. He testified in a hearing before Congress in Washington, and nothing less than Tiktok's existence in the US was at stake. The U.S. government is threatening to ban the app unless the Chinese owners sell their shares.
Little sympathy in the audience
As expected, Chew had to deal with a hostile audience at the hearing. "Their platform should be banned," said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers right at the beginning. Tiktok monitors "all of us" and the app cannot be trusted to "ever embrace American values." Kat Cammack called Tiktok an "extension of China's Communist Party."
Chew tried to defend himself, complaining about "misunderstandings" surrounding his company. Tiktok has never shared American user data with the Chinese government and would never agree to it. "Since I've been CEO, I've never had talks with representatives of the Chinese government."
Tiktok has also invested billions in a new structure through a program called "Project Texas", which, together with the American software company Oracle, is building a "protective wall" around US data and making it impossible for China to force access. "American data is stored on American soil by an American company."
MEPs were not very convinced. McMorris Rogers called it a "lie" that Tiktok was not accountable to China's Communist Party. She described Project Texas as a "marketing plot."
Before Thursday's hearing, a spokeswoman for the Chinese government said her country would vehemently oppose a Washington-forced sale of Tiktok. Some MEPs interpreted this as a sign that the connection between China and Tiktok was closer than the company admits. "Apparently, China believes it has control over Tiktok," said MP Michael Burgess.
In the run-up to his appearance, Chew had already personally visited some representatives in Washington, although the harsh questioning on Thursday did not give the impression that he had won many sympathies.
Chew also tried to mobilize his own user community. The day before the hearing, there was a press conference with TikTok influencers. Chew also addressed his users himself in a Tiktok video on Tuesday. Instead of wearing a suit like on Thursday, he wore jeans and a hoodie, and he said with a serious face that "some politicians" wanted to "take away" Tiktok from all its 150 million American users.
Chew runs Tiktok from Singapore, where he lives with his wife and two children. He was also born here, but he spent a lot of time abroad. He studied in London, where he worked for Goldman Sachs for several years before completing further studies at Harvard. He then joined an investment company in Hong Kong, where he first came into contact with Bytedance as an investor. This was followed by several years in top management at the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi before joining TikTok. Here he is now in the spotlight like never before – and certainly more than im would like.