Xavier Niel becomes one of the directors presiding over the fate of TikTok – Technologist

A social media enthusiast, Xavier Niel (an individual shareholder in Le Monde Group) is about to take part, from the inside, in the life of one of the world’s major web applications. At the end of August, the founder and shareholder of telecoms operator Free Mobile joined the board of directors of Chinese company ByteDance, owner of social media platform TikTok. He replaced the American Philippe Laffont, who leads the investment firm Coatue Management, one of ByteDance’s shareholders. According to The Information, which revealed the appointment on August 31, Coatue Management is reportedly looking to sell some of its stake.

“We are excited about Xavier joining our board and look forward to having his guidance, input and inspiration,” a ByteDance representative told the South China Morning Post newspaper. Le Monde has learned that Niel is a shareholder in ByteDance, as he is in many other technology companies. He met with Zhang Yiming, one of the co-founders of the Chinese social media platform, on numerous occasions in recent years.

At ByteDance, he will serve alongside president Rubo Liang, Zhang’s partner, and Chinese entrepreneur Neil Shen, one of the principals of the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. The board of directors also includes two American investors: Arthur Dantchik, co-founder of trading and technology company Susquehanna International, and William E. Ford, chairman and CEO of growth equity firm General Atlantic.

This is Niel’s second director position in an international company, apart from his endeavors in the telecom industry. Since March 2018, the founder of Free has been a board member of US investment company KKR, one of ByteDance’s shareholders.

‘How to become a billionaire’

Founded in 2012, ByteDance established itself as one of China’s leading social media companies with the Douyin video app, now used by over 750 million people in China every month. Developed for the international market, TikTok has also been a huge success. Boasting just over 1.5 billion active users worldwide, it has become the fourth-largest social media platform, behind Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

In recent years, TikTok has become a point of contention between the US and China, due to the threat it poses to US national security. On April 23, Congress passed a law forcing the Chinese company ByteDance to hand over its flagship social media platform within 270 days, or risk being banned on American soil. On May 7, TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., challenging what they described as an “unconstitutional” law.

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