ByteDance CFO Shou Zi Chew is stepping down in order to focus more on his role as CEO of unit TikTok, CNBC reported, citing an internal memo. Chew was appointed head of TikTok in May, succeeding interim chief Vanessa Pappas who took over following the resignation of Kevin Mayer, a former executive at Walt Disney, in August 2020 amid political turmoil with the US.
ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo also announced in the memo that the company was reorganizing, and that six new business units had been created. The first business unit will consist of Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, which will also include ByteDance’s Toutiao news aggregation service. The Nuverse business will focus on ByteDance’s gaming efforts, while the TikTok unit will focus on the short videos app.
Other units include work collaboration division Lark, education business Dali and enterprise technology platform BytePlus. The changes will take place in a phased approach.
Chew joined ByteDance as CFO from Xiaomi in March, sparking speculation the company could be on track for an initial public offering. ByteDance said in April it had no immediate plans for a listing. In July, it put its IPO plans on hold indefinitely.
Liang took over as CEO in May, when ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming transitioned into a new role, working more on long-term goals and strategies.
