ByteDance Shuffles Board: Coatue’s Laffont Exits, French Entrepreneur Niel Steps In Amidst IPO Uncertainty and US Pressure

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has reportedly lost Coatue's Laffont from its board and has instead brought on French entrepreneur Niel. It's been noted that Coatue has been looking to offload some of its ByteDance stocks, as the prospects of an IPO continue to look unlikely.

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

The official online platform of the Chinese corporation currently names four additional board members: Liang Rubo, who serves as the CEO and chairman, Arthur Dantchik, who is a 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.

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

"We are thrilled to welcome Xavier to our board and eagerly anticipate his direction, feedback, and motivation," stated a spokesperson for ByteDance. "We will persist in broadening the range of abilities and knowledge within our board to ensure the general interests of the company and all stakeholders."

The representative stated that Laffont will persist in backing the firm in the capacity of a "board observer", though they did not provide further details about what this position involves.