TikTok owner ByteDance loses Coatue’s Laffont on board, welcomes French entrepreneur Niel
Coatue has reportedly been seeking to sell some of its ByteDance shares, as an IPO remains far-fetched
ByteDance, whose short video hit TikTok is under pressure to exit the US market, said Philippe Laffont, founder of New York-based Coatue Management, has exited the company’s board of directors, replaced by French businessman Xavier Niel.
The Chinese company’s official website currently lists four other board members: CEO and chairman Liang Rubo, Susquehanna International Group co-founder Arthur Dantchik, General Atlantic CEO and chairman William Ford, and Neil Shen, managing partner and founder of HongShan – formerly Sequoia China.
Susquehanna, General Atlantic and HongShan are all investors in ByteDance.
“We are excited about Xavier joining our board and look forward to having his guidance, input and inspiration,” a ByteDance representative said. “We will continue to enhance the diversity of skills and expertise on our board to safeguard the overall interests of the company and all shareholders.”
Laffont will continue to support the company “as a board observer”, the representative said, without elaborating on what that role entails.
Neither Coatue nor Iliad Group, a French telecommunications company founded by Niel, immediately responded to requests for comment on Monday.
Niel has been a board member at ByteDance investor KKR since 2018, according to the New York firm’s website. However, Niel does not own any shares in the Beijing firm, according to The Information, which first reported the board changes.
