Julie Gao joins ByteDance as CFO

Julie Gao joins ByteDance as CFO

Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom's China practice head will join ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, as its Chief Financial Officer

Julie Gao, based in Hong Kong, joins the Chinese tech giant after working for a US law firm for more than a decade as its top Asia capital markets attorney. She advised on more than 100 initial public offerings and other capital market engagements as well as M&A transactions in the region.

The firm's highest governing body, Skadden's policy committee, is also chaired by Gao. Gao is known for advising on the IPOs of large Chinese companies in both Hong Kong and New York, including e-commerce giant JD.com and phone maker Xiaomi.

Her arrival at ByteDance coincides with a time of upheaval in the market for Chinese companies listed in the US, valued at an estimated $2trn, due to tighter Chinese government control and the threat of delisting.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese regulators told ByteDance to instead focus on managing data security threats last summer when ByteDance had plans to list offshore. In November, 2021 TikTok's former CFO, Shou Zi Chew, stepped down to focus on his role as the CEO of the company, leaving Gao to fill the role that had been vacant since then.

As Liang Rubo, ByteDance's CEO and co-founder wrote in a letter to staff, Gao has been involved in the company's acquisitions and financing projects since 2016 and is familiar with the company's mission, culture, teams and policies.

She has also helped the company successfully complete several rounds of private equity financing as well as its acquisitions of Shanghai-based gaming studio Moonton Technology in 2021 and video-based social network platform Musical.ly in 2017.

A Skadden spokesperson stated: "We greatly appreciate Julie's contributions to the firm, including building a top-notch team to lead our China practice, which now includes six other partners and developing an extensive stable of clients."

"We are looking forward to watch Julie succeed as a business executive and continue to work with ByteDance and Julie as our client," further stated.

Globally, Skadden topped the M&A legal adviser league table based on a deal value in the first three months of the year.