Shou Zi Chew

Current Company

TikTok — CEO

The CEO at the Center of a Geopolitical Storm

Shou Zi Chew became CEO of TikTok in 2021, stepping into one of the most high-pressure roles in global technology. Born and raised in Singapore, Shou Zi Chew earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and worked as a partner at Yuri Milner's DST Global, one of the most influential technology investment firms in the world, before joining ByteDance as CFO. His appointment as TikTok CEO put him at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and culture.

Shou Zi Chew has led TikTok through intense regulatory scrutiny in the United States, including congressional hearings where he testified before lawmakers about the platform's data practices, content moderation policies, and relationship with its Chinese parent company ByteDance. Shou Zi Chew's measured, composed performance under hostile questioning earned him respect even from critics, and his ability to navigate the company through existential regulatory threats has defined his tenure as CEO.

Scaling a Cultural Phenomenon

Under Shou Zi Chew's leadership, TikTok has grown into one of the most influential platforms in the world, with over a billion monthly active users and a cultural impact that extends far beyond social media. TikTok's short-form video format has reshaped how music is discovered, how products are marketed, and how news is consumed, particularly among Gen-Z users. Shou Zi Chew has overseen the platform's expansion into e-commerce, live streaming, and creator monetization.

Shou Zi Chew's background in finance and investment gives him a different perspective from most social media CEOs. Rather than coming from engineering or product, Shou Zi Chew approaches TikTok's challenges with the strategic lens of an investor and operator — balancing growth, monetization, regulatory compliance, and geopolitical risk simultaneously. It's a balancing act that no other CEO in technology has had to manage at this scale.