Bloomberg podcast host and Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein interviewed Tik Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew. Tik Tok is owned by Chinese based ByteDance. The Carlyle Group invested in ByteDance several years ago. A Carlyle press release stated:
Carlyle’s Asia investments include ANE Logistics, Delhivery, Ant Group, ByteDance, China Literature, Tuhu, Spark Education, Du Xiaoman Financial, Nxtra Data, among others.
Tik Tok has become a source of misinformation on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. News reports indicate China asked Russia to wait until after the Olympics before invading Ukraine. That indicates China's leadership had some foreknowledge of Russia's plans. It has been supportive since Putin unleashed his military on Ukrainians.
As European and American officials press Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and other online platforms to clamp down on Russian disinformation, China has embraced Russia’s propaganda and lies about the war. China’s state-owned media outlets quoted their Russian counterparts’ coverage without verification, helping to magnify their disinformation on the Chinese internet.Mr. Rubenstein's interview did not address the raging war, misinformation on Tik Tok or the West's financial sanctions against Russia. It focused on how people can make themselves famous on Tik Tok, the "sunny corner of the internet."
The Chinese government put Carlyle's huge profits from Ant Group on hold after Jack Ma got too big for his britches. Their Ant Group payday will be smaller as a result of Ma's hubris.
Rubenstein said in the podcast that he assumes Carlyle will make money from its ByteDance investment."
ByteDance Mission-- "Inspire creativity and enrich life"
Tik Tok Mission-- "Inspire creativity and bring joy."
The interviewed ended with Tik Tok's CEO saying he is focused on "trust building with the right stakeholders around the world." War does not enrich life, bring joy or build trust. It destroys. The CEO did not say who the right stakeholders are in our highly divided world. One would have to talk to their Chinese corporate owners to know for sure.
