Shou Zi Chew at APEC 2024: who is the man at the helm of the TikTok giant and what is his vision on technology?

Shou Zi Chew has become a key piece for TikTokand this is because it is the executive director of the Chinese social network that confronts the United States after the approval of a controversial bill that would leave it out of the leading world power.

He is 41 years old and was born in Singapore. He attended the prestigious Hwa Chong School, before settling in Europe to study economics at University College London. His personality is characterized by discretion.

He worked at the Goldman Sachs business bank and completed an internship at Facebook, before earning an MBA at Harvard Business School in the United States. He also worked at the investment company DST and, as he speaks fluent Mandarin and English, he was appointed financial director of the Chinese telephone giant Xiaomi in 2015.

In March 2021, he joined ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, and quickly took over the management of the application, after the sudden resignation of his predecessor, the American Kevin Mayer, reports the AFP news agency.

But in the last year Shou Zi Chew has had to resist political pressure. First, from the United States, Europe and the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom, which prohibited their officials from using the platform.

One of the reasons is due to suspicions that the app gives China access to user data, which TikTok has always denied. There is also the fear that the Chinese government will manipulate public opinion. “ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government,” Chew said at a US Congressional hearing.

Family and personal life

The TikTok CEO is married to investment company CEO Vivian Kao, a former Harvard Business School classmate he met via email in 2008.

They have two children and are so close that when talking, “one often finishes the other’s sentences,” according to an article on the school’s website.

Like most men in Singapore, Chew did military service as a young man, excelling so much that he was commissioned as an officer, according to the Straits Times newspaper.

Under Singapore law, this means he must remain an army reservist until he is 50, a decade longer than men of other ranks.

Vision of technology?

Without a doubt, Shou Zi Chew’s career has developed in the technological world, passing through Facebook, Xiaomi and now TikTok. His voice is important in this sector and he was a guest at the APEC CEO Summit 2024, where he gave a keynote talk in which he highlighted the role of information security.

“The security of our users’ data is non-negotiable. “It is imperative for us to maintain public trust and provide the best protection is another way how TikTok differentiates itself from other platforms.”he said at the event.

In that sense, it was detailed that TikTok has invested 1.5 billion in information security, specifically in the United States. An investment that will also be replicated in Europe.

He also highlighted the role of creativity in his social network. “TikTok is defined by the creativity and freedom of expression of our users in a safe and authentic environment”said. And that has been one of the key points in the development of the platform.

TikTok appeared in 2017, although it was born a year earlier under the name Douyin in China, and belongs to the company ByteDance. Today it is one of the most used social networks, only behind Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Whatsapp.

It has distinguished itself for its short videos (60 seconds), although currently it can reach three minutes, and this would be one of the reasons for not causing boredom in the public (especially young people).

TikTok changed social media. In fact, even the way of watching the videos went from a horizontal format to a vertical format, with a more interactive, agile and fun dynamic, to which more formal institutions such as banks, universities, governments, etc. have been added. . Another detail is the algorithm it uses, with the ability to understand the user in what they want to see.