TikTok owner ByteDance names veteran corporate lawyer Julie Gao its new CFO as tech unicorn’s IPO plans remain in limbo

TikTok owner ByteDance, the world’s most valuable unicorn, has appointed veteran corporate lawyer Julie Gao as its new chief financial officer (CFO), filling a major vacancy in the company’s senior management ranks after a sweeping reorganisation initiated last November.

Gao, previously a partner at American multinational law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, has advised many Chinese technology companies on public listings and other transactions, ByteDance chief executive Liang Rubo said in an internal letter on Monday to announce the new appointment.

ByteDance’s CFO position was left vacant in November last year, when Chew Shou Zi relinquished that role to serve as chief executive of global hit short video-sharing platform TikTok.

Gao worked with ByteDance on two of the company’s biggest acquisitions, according to her biography on Skadden’s website. These were popular teen karaoke app Musical.ly, which merged with TikTok’s operation in 2018, and Moonton Technology, developer of video game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. She was also involved in several rounds of private equity financing, valued at multiple billions of dollars, for the Beijing-based social media giant.