ByteDance Board Shakeup: Coatue’s Laffont Steps Down, French Entrepreneur Xavier Niel Steps In Amid Share Sale Rumors

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, experiences a board departure with Coatue's Laffont while French businessman Niel joins the team. Reports suggest that Coatue has been trying to offload some of its ByteDance shares, with an initial public offering seeming unlikely.

ByteDance, the company behind the popular short video app TikTok that is facing challenges to leave the US market, announced that Philippe Laffont, the founder of Coatue Management based in New York, has departed from its board of directors. His position has been filled by French entrepreneur Xavier Niel.

At present, the official website of the Chinese firm lists four additional members of the board. These include Liang Rubo, the CEO and chairman, Arthur Dantchik, 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, which was previously known as Sequoia China.

Susquehanna, General Atlantic, and HongShan have all invested in ByteDance.

"We are thrilled to welcome Xavier to our board and eagerly anticipate benefiting from his advice, insights, and innovation," a spokesperson from ByteDance stated. "Our ongoing efforts to amplify the range of talents and knowledge among our board members are designed to protect the comprehensive wellbeing of the company and all its stakeholders."

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