Xavier Niel joins ByteDance’s board of directors

Xavier Niel, founder of the telecommunications group Iliad, parent company of the operator Free, has unexpectedly joined the board of directors of the Chinese group ByteDance, owner of the social network TikTok, the video platform told AFP on Monday.

“We are delighted to have Xavier Niel join our board of directors and to be able to count on his advice, his opinions and his vision,” said a TikTok spokesperson.

“We will continue to strengthen the diversity of skills and expertise within our board of directors in order to preserve the interests of the company and all shareholders,” he continued.

The French billionaire joins a board of directors led by ByteDance’s Chinese CEO and co-founder Rubo Liang and composed of five members, including American businessmen Arthur Dantchik and William E. Ford as well as Chinese entrepreneur Neil Shen, as detailed on the group’s website.

Xavier Niel would replace Philippe Laffont, founder of the investment fund Coatue Management, according to the specialist media Numerama.

The French telecoms magnate will thus be able to participate in the votes and strategic decisions of ByteDance, whose popular TikTok application has more than a billion users worldwide.

The French telecoms magnate will thus be able to participate in the votes and strategic decisions of ByteDance, whose popular TikTok application has more than a billion users worldwide (AFP/Archives/Roslan RAHMAN)

In the United States, where it has at least 170 million followers, including a large proportion of teenagers and young adults, TikTok is under threat of being banned, with the US government citing national security concerns.

TikTok is also facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department accusing it of violating child privacy laws.

ByteDance’s platform is also under scrutiny in the European Union, where it permanently removed a feature from its TikTok Lite app that rewarded watching videos, after Brussels opened an investigation into “serious risks to users’ mental health.”

© 2024 AFP

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