ByteDance Board Shuffle: Coatue’s Laffont Steps Down, French Entrepreneur Niel Steps In Amid IPO Speculation

ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, has seen Coatue's Laffont step down from its board and has welcomed French entrepreneur Niel. Coatue has been said to be looking to offload some of its ByteDance stocks, as the prospect of an IPO seems unlikely.

ByteDance, the company behind the popular short video app TikTok which is facing challenges to leave the US market, announced that Philippe Laffont, the founder of Coatue Management based in New York, has stepped down from the company's board of directors. He has been succeeded by Xavier Niel, a businessman from France.

At present, the official website of the Chinese firm enumerates four additional board members. These include the CEO and chairman Liang Rubo, Arthur Dantchik who is a co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, William Ford who serves as 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 are eager for his advice, contribution, and motivation," said a representative from ByteDance. "We will persist in expanding the range of abilities and knowledge within our board to protect the comprehensive interests of the company and all stakeholders."

Laffont will remain involved with the company in the capacity of a "board observer," the spokesperson stated, without providing further details about the responsibilities of this position.