Shou Zi Chew (Chinese: 周受资; born 1 January 1983) is a Singaporean businessman who has been serving as the chief executive officer of TikTok, an online video platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, since 2021.[1][2][3]
Shou Zi Chew | |||||||||||||||||||
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_(cropped).jpg) Chew in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Chew Shou Zi 1 January 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Education | |||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Businessman | ||||||||||||||||||
| Title | CFO of Xiaomi (2015-2021) CFO of TikTok (2021) CEO of TikTok (2021–present) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Vivian Kao | ||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 周受資 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 周受资 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Website | tiktok.com | ||||||||||||||||||
Early life and education
Chew was born on 1 January 1983[4] in Singapore of an ethnic Chinese family.[5] His father reportedly worked in construction while his mother was a bookkeeper.[6] Upon graduating from Hwa Chong Institution,[6] Chew went on to serve National Service in which he was a commissioned officer in the Singapore Armed Forces.[6]
After his military service, Chew went on to study at University College London in England.[7] He graduated from the college in 2006 with a Bachelor of Economics degree.[8] In 2010, he completed a Master of Business Administration degree at Harvard Business School,[5] and while there completed a summer internship at Facebook prior to its IPO.[9]
Career
After graduating from University College London in 2006, Chew worked at Goldman Sachs in London for two years as a banker before he joined Yuri Milner's venture capital firm DST Global.[6] At Russian investment firm DST Global,[10][11][12] Chew led investment into JD.com, Alibaba, and Xiaomi.[10][11][12] He also led a team of early investors in ByteDance in 2013.[6]
In 2015, Chew joined Xiaomi as its chief financial officer.[6] In 2019, he became Xiaomi's foreign business president.[6]
In March 2021, Chew joined ByteDance as its chief financial officer.[13][14] He subsequently replaced TikTok CEO Kevin A. Mayer,[15] who left the ByteDance subsidiary after three months on the job.[16]
In March 2023, Chew testified before the United States Congress regarding the legislative effort to ban TikTok in the United States.[17] He testified again in January 2024, during a United States Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding legislation on child internet safety.[18]
He is the honorary chairperson of the 2024 edition of the Met Gala as TikTok is the lead sponsor of the event.[19][20] Chew is also recognized as one of the most impactful Asians in 2024 by Gold House.[21]In April 24, 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a national security bill that Chew claims would inevitably ban TikTok in the United States.[22] Chew also uploaded a video on TikTok stating that TikTok will raise the matter to courts on the same day.
Personal life
Chew is married to Vivian Kao, an American citizen of Taiwanese descent. They met in 2008 while studying at Harvard Business School.[6] The couple have two children and live in Singapore.[23]
