TikTok: Xavier Niel joins the Board of Directors of ByteDance, the parent company of the Chinese app

2024-09-03 05:26:57

A new string to Xavier Niel’s neck. Understandably, the boss of Free joined the board of directors of ByteDance, the parent company of the TikTok app, as reported by the media The information.

“We are delighted that Xavier is joining our board of directors and we hope to be able to count on his advice, his contribution and his inspiration”, assures the representative of the company in the columns of South China Morning Post. “We will continue to strengthen the diversity of skills and expertise within our board of directors to protect the interests of the company and all shareholders,” he continued.

For his part, Xavier Niel has not yet spoken about this new project, although his picture now appears on the Chinese team’s website.

TikTok has the views of the authorities

At Bytedance, Xavier Niel will replace Philippe Laffont, founder of investment fund Coatue Management. He will sit with four other members, including the company’s founder and CEO Rubo Liang. The French telecoms magnate will be able to participate in the votes and strategic decisions of ByteDance, whose popular TikTok app has more than a billion users worldwide.

This announcement comes as TikTok has been in the sights of authorities in the European Union and the United States for several months. Last April, the US Senate passed a law that forced TikTok to cut its ties with its parent company ByteDance and further with China, at the risk of being banned in the country. The ByteDance platform is also under scrutiny in the European Union, where it has completely removed a service from the TikTok Lite app that rewards watching videos, after the opening of an investigation by Brussels into “serious risks for the mental health of users.