TikTok’s E-Commerce Management Structure Undercuts Claims of Autonomy From China

The new head of TikTok’s important push into e-commerce in the U.S. answers directly to a boss at the app’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, bypassing TikTok’s own CEO. The previously unreported structure could undercut TikTok’s efforts to convince Washington lawmakers that it can operate independently from ByteDance.

Sandie Hawkins, a U.S.-based TikTok executive who became the app’s head of U.S. e-commerce in November, reports to Bob Kang, ByteDance’s e-commerce chief, who in turn reports to Zhang Lidong, ByteDance’s China chair based in Beijing, according to people with knowledge of the matter. But neither Hawkins nor Kang reports to TikTok’s CEO, Shouzi Chew, the people said.

TikTok, which faces U.S. lawmakers’ calls for a ban due to national security concerns, has tried to downplay its Chinese ownership and has described itself as an “independent platform” with its own leadership team under Chew. The previously unreported organizational structure for e-commerce shows how ByteDance’s senior executives bypass TikTok’s CEO to directly oversee the app’s important new initiative in the U.S.—turning the popular video platform into an online shopping destination for Americans. See here for our ByteDance org chart.