TikTok CEO Expands Purview to Include ByteDance’s New App Lemon8

The Singapore-based CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, is getting a bigger job. TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is putting its newer social media app, Lemon8, under Chew’s supervision, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The move appears to reflect ByteDance’s strategy of locating the heads of its global apps outside China, in an effort to defend the apps from a backlash over their Chinese ownership.  The head of Lemon8, Stephanie Cheng, who currently is based in Shanghai and reports to ByteDance executive Alex Zhu, is preparing to relocate to Singapore and will report to Chew instead, according to the person. Cao Zhen, the head of ByteDance’s music streaming app Resso, which operates in Brazil, India and Indonesia, is already based in Singapore and also reports to Chew.