Shou Zi Chew

Shou Zi Chew
Born	(1983-01-01) January 1, 1983 Singapore
Occupation	Business executive
Years active	2006–present
Known for	CEO of TikTok

Shou Zi Chew (; born 1 January 1983) is a Singaporean corporate leader who has held the position of chief executive officer (CEO) at TikTok, the popular video-sharing platform owned by the Chinese corporation ByteDance, since 2021.

Early life and education

Born in Singapore on 1 January 1983, Chew grew up with a father employed in the construction industry and a mother working as a bookkeeper. He completed his secondary education at Hwa Chong Institution before fulfilling his National Service obligations with the Singapore Armed Forces.

Chew pursued higher education at University College London, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics in 2006. He later obtained an Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 2010. During his MBA studies, he undertook a summer internship at Facebook prior to its initial public offering.

Career

Following his graduation from University College London in 2006, Chew spent two years working at Goldman Sachs in London. He then joined DST Global, a venture capital firm founded by Yuri Milner, where he was instrumental in investments involving JD.com, Alibaba, and Xiaomi. Notably, he was part of ByteDance’s early investor group in 2013.

In 2015, Chew took on the role of chief financial officer at Xiaomi and advanced to become president of international business in 2019. He moved to ByteDance as CFO in March 2021 and shortly thereafter succeeded Kevin A. Mayer as CEO of TikTok after Mayer’s brief leadership period.

In March 2023, Chew appeared before the United States Congress amid ongoing legislative discussions aimed at banning TikTok within the country. Subsequently, Senator Marco Rubio called for a Department of Justice probe into allegations of possible perjury by Chew. He provided testimony once again in January 2024 during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on child internet safety.

In 2024, Chew was appointed honorary chairperson of the Met Gala, an event where TikTok acted as the principal sponsor. That same year, Gold House honored him as one of the most influential Asians.

On 24 April 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden enacted legislation mandating that TikTok be divested or face prohibition in the United States. The enforcement of this mandate was postponed to the incoming Trump administration, during which TikTok was temporarily disabled and removed from American app stores until President Donald Trump issued an executive order delaying the ban for 75 days to allow time for a potential sale. Chew was present at Trump’s inauguration.

On 19 June 2025, Trump signed another executive order extending the deadline for TikTok’s ban by an additional 90 days.