According to recent reports, TikTok poached away Disney executive, Kevin Mayer, and appointed him as Chief Operating Officer (COO). TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance is also trying to make some major changes in its operations. The company is currently setting up strategies to shift its power center from China as global tensions intensify.
Sources told Reuters that ByteDance has taken a series of low-key actions in recent months. These actions are gradually shifting the decision-making and research functions of international operations out of China. According to sources, this strategy does not focus on TikTok’s foreign operations. It also includes other popular software like Indian social software, Helo.
According to sources, ByteDance has expanded TikTok’s engineering and R & D operations in Mountain View, California. One of the sources said that TikTok has hired more than 150 engineers there. Furthermore, TikTok also has a director of investors in New York.
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The investor relations director recently hired by ByteDance, named Michelle Huang, is a former SoftBank investor who participated in the company’s investment in ByteDance. Michelle Huang did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the email.
ByteDance is recruiting top executives outside China
Kevin Mayer, former director of streaming at The Walt Disney Company (DIS.N), was also appointed as COO of ByteDance. Interestingly, his office is in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for global business development and other departments. As can be seen from the recruitment information on the Internet, ByteDance is also hiring engineers around the world, including Singapore, Jakarta, and Warsaw.
According to reports, some of ByteDance employees are responsible for the company’s global business. The company is also slowly and carefully activating these major organizational changes. Sources say they worry that they may become less important in the next phase of expansion and start looking for job opportunities elsewhere. However, it appears that the company is trying to avoid regular backlashes.