Xavier Niel, founder of the telecommunications group Iliad, parent company of the operator Free, unexpectedly joined the board of directors of the Chinese group ByteDance, owner of the social network TikTok, the video platform announced on Monday, September 2.
“We are delighted to have Xavier Niel join our board and to be able to count on his advice, insights and vision,” a TikTok spokesperson said. “We will continue to strengthen the diversity of skills and expertise on our board to protect the interests of the company and all shareholders,” he continued.
The French billionaire joins a board 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.
TikTok, the discord app
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 US Justice Department alleging violations of 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 video viewing after Brussels opened an investigation into “serious risks to users’ mental health.”