ByteDance Board Reshuffle: Coatue’s Laffont Steps Down, French Entrepreneur Niel Steps Up Amid IPO Uncertainty

ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, sees a departure from Coatue's Laffont on its board and greets French businessman Niel. Reports suggest that Coatue has been looking to offload some of its ByteDance stocks, with an IPO seeming unlikely in the near future.

ByteDance, the company behind the popular short video app TikTok, currently facing threats to leave the US market, announced that Philippe Laffont, the creator of Coatue Management located in New York, has stepped down from the firm's board of directors. His position has been filled by the French entrepreneur, Xavier Niel.

The official website of the Chinese firm presently shows four other board members: Liang Rubo, who serves as the CEO and chairman, Arthur Dantchik who is the 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 are thrilled to welcome Xavier to our board and eagerly anticipate his direction, contribution and motivation," a representative from ByteDance expressed. "We will persist in broadening the variety of abilities and knowledge within our board to protect the comprehensive interests of the company and all stakeholders."

Laffont will persist in backing the company in the capacity of "a board observer," as stated by the spokesperson, who did not provide further details about what this role involves.