Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Douyin, an overseas version of TikTok, recently tried to allay the concerns of US lawmakers, insisting that it distanced itself from the byte jump of its parent company and was run by its own executives. "TikTok is run by Zhou, the global chief executive, who is a Singaporean and resident in Singapore," TikTok wrote in a letter to US lawmakers in June.

In fact, Zhou has only limited decision-making power over the operation of TikTok, according to 12 TikTok and byte jump former employees and executives quoted by the New York Times. Major decisions about the company, such as efforts to strengthen TikTok's live streaming and shopping capabilities, were made by byte Jump founder Zhang Yiming, other senior strategy executives and TikTok R & D team leaders, these people said. They also say that the growth and strategy of TikTok does not depend on weekly funding, but by byte jump headquarters.

These arrangements show that the 39-year-old Zhou is also walking a tightrope at the helm of the world's most popular social apps. Since he was appointed chief executive of TikTok in May 2021, he has had to show the West his image as the autonomous head of global services while meeting the requirements of TikTok's parent company.

TikTok claims that Zhou is ultimately responsible for the application's product and strategic decisions. Byte jump is also said that Zhou is very familiar with the company's business.

Little is known about Zhou's funding and how TikTok operates. But Mr TikTok and his byte-beating former employee say he has been focused on strengthening financial management during the global recession. As TikTok moves more business to Singapore, Zhou has tightened its budget, cancelled marketing trials and laid off employees in North America, these people said. Zhou also met with a number of executives around the world and European regulators.

But people familiar with the matter say byte jump has more control over TikTok. "if Zhou doesn't want to do what byte jumps wants him to do, he may be fired and someone else may take his place," said Salvatore Babones, director of the Independent Research Centre, an Australian think-tank.

According to public data, Zhou was born and raised in Singapore, studied economics at University College London and received a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University.

In 2015, Zhou joined Xiaomi as chief financial officer. In 2018, he led Xiaomi's IPO. In March 2021, Zhou announced that he had joined byte jump as chief financial officer, sparking speculation that the company was about to go public. However, two months later, TikTok appointed him as chief executive, and Zhang Yiming praised him for his "deep understanding of the company and the industry."

At the end of last year, Zhou resigned from his byte-beating position to focus on running TikTok. TikTok has not had a formal chief executive since August 2020. The move follows the departure of former Disney executive Kevin Mayer after the Trump administration tried to separate TikTok from its parent company. Although Mr Zhang resigned as an official byte last year, people familiar with the matter said he was still involved in decision-making.

Many people who have worked with Mr Zhou say they do not know how much he understands the platform, which is growing all the time. Zhou's funding is mainly concerned with the finance and operation of TikTok.

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