Newspaper: TikTok CEO Also Going to Trump Inauguration

The CEO of TikTok plans to attend the inauguration of incoming American president Donald Trump on Monday. The New York Times reports this based on insiders.

According to the newspaper, Shou Chew has also been invited to sit in a place of honour on the stage, where former presidents, family members and other essential guests traditionally take their seats.

Singapore-born Chew joins tech bosses such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, who are also expected at the inauguration. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has also been invited. According to The New York Times, TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, did not want to comment on the report.

The newspaper speaks of an essential development: TikTok is about to be banned in the United States. Last year, the US Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US branch to a non-Chinese company. If it doesn’t, TikTok will be banned from Sunday due to national security concerns.

TikTok has been betting for almost a year to avoid a ban through the courts. The US Supreme Court is currently reviewing TikTok’s objections to the law. Lately, however, the company has also focused on reaching a different solution with the incoming Trump administration. According to sources, Trump met with several TikTok executives at his Mar-a-Lago estate in December.