Board Reshuffle at ByteDance: Coatue’s Laffont Exits, French Entrepreneur Xavier Niel Steps In Amidst Share Sales and IPO Uncertainty

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has seen Coatue's Laffont step down from its board while welcoming French businessman Niel. It's rumored that Coatue has been exploring options to sell part of its ByteDance stock, with an initial public offering (IPO) seeming unlikely in the near future.

ByteDance, the company behind the popular short video app TikTok that's currently facing calls to withdraw from the US market, announced that Philippe Laffont, the founder of Coatue Management in New York, has stepped down from its board of directors. He will be succeeded by French entrepreneur Xavier Niel.

The official website of the Chinese corporation presently identifies four additional board members. They are Liang Rubo, the CEO and Chairman, Arthur Dantchik, co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, William Ford, the CEO and Chairman of General Atlantic, and Neil Shen, the managing partner and founder of HongShan, previously known as Sequoia China.

ByteDance has received investments from Susquehanna, General Atlantic, and HongShan.

"We're thrilled to have Xavier on our board and we eagerly anticipate benefiting from his advice, contributions, and innovative ideas," a spokesperson for ByteDance stated. "We'll keep broadening the range of abilities and knowledge within our board to protect the comprehensive interests of the company and all of its stakeholders."

Laffont will keep backing the company in the capacity of a "board observer," the spokesperson explained, without providing further details about what this position involves.