TikTok CEO's Limited Power Raises Concerns About Transparency and Control

TikTok, the international version of Douyin, has been making headlines recently. The company has been trying to alleviate the concerns of U.S. lawmakers by asserting its independence from its parent company, ByteDance. In a letter to U.S. lawmakers in June, TikTok stated, “TikTok is run by global CEO Zhou Shouzi, a Singaporean who is also based in Singapore.”

However, according to insiders, including 12 former employees and executives of TikTok and ByteDance, Zhou Shouzi’s decision-making power over TikTok’s operations is limited. Major decisions, such as initiatives to enhance TikTok’s live streaming and shopping capabilities, were made by ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, other senior strategy executives, and the head of TikTok’s research and development team. They also revealed that TikTok’s growth and strategy formulation are determined by ByteDance headquarters, not Zhou Shouzi.

This arrangement indicates that Zhou Shouzi, 39, is walking a tightrope as the CEO of the world’s most popular social app. Since being named CEO of TikTok in May 2021, he has had to portray himself to the West as the autonomous head of global services while meeting the demands of TikTok’s parent company.

TikTok maintains that Zhou Shouzi is ultimately responsible for the app’s product and strategic decisions. ByteDance also stated that Zhou Shouzi is well-acquainted with the company’s business.

However, little is known about Zhou Shouzi and how TikTok operates. Former employees of TikTok and ByteDance have said that he remained focused on strengthening financial management during the global recession. As TikTok moves more of its business to Singapore, Zhou has tightened budgets, scrapped marketing experiments, and laid off employees in North America. Zhou Shouzi has also met with global corporate executives and European regulatory officials.

Yet, insiders claim that ByteDance has more control over TikTok. “If Zhou Shouzi doesn’t want to do what ByteDance wants him to do, he might be fired and someone else might take over,” said Salvatore Babones, director of the Centre for Independent Research, an Australian think tank.

Zhou Shouzi, born and raised in Singapore, studied economics at University College London and obtained a master’s degree in business administration at Harvard University. He joined Xiaomi as CFO in 2015 and led Xiaomi’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2018. In March 2021, Zhou Shouzi announced that he had joined ByteDance as CFO, sparking speculation that the company was about to go public. However, two months later, when TikTok named him CEO, Zhang Yiming praised him for his “deep understanding of the company and the industry.”

Zhou Shouzi resigned from ByteDance late last year to focus on running TikTok. TikTok has not had an official CEO since August 2020, when former Disney executive Kevin Mayer left after the Trump administration worked to separate TikTok from its parent company. Although Zhang Yiming resigned from his official post at ByteDance last year, insiders say he is still involved in decision-making.

Many people who have worked with Zhou Shouzi said they did not know how well he understood the platform, which has always been growing. Zhou Shouzi mainly focuses on TikTok’s finances and operations.