Zhu Wenjia Will Lead Global Research and Development for TikTok

ByteDance is moving the CEO of their Chinese news platform, Zhu Wenjia, to Singapore where he will lead global research and development for TikTok, sources told Reuters. In this newly created position, Zhu will be overseeing and leading Tik Tok’s product and technologies including its recommendation algorithm. His position will be parallel to Vanessa Pappas, TikTok’s interim head and he will report directly to ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming.

Zhu previously worked at Baidu, China’s largest search engine. He joined ByteDance in 2015, and was named CEO of Toutiao in 2019. A former executive of DiDi Chuxing, China’s largest ridesharing company, who recently joined ByteDance, will replace Zhu as CEO of Toutiao sources said.

ByteDance has recently moved its key research capabilities outside of China. It is reported that the company has planned to invest billions of dollars in building out its talent pool in its new Singapore regional headquarters. The company has approached employees from tech giants, including Google, for senior engineering positions.