Leaked TikTok Org Chart Shows China-Based Execs Now Run US Shop

Six of TikTok Shop's seven US product category leaders previously worked in China at ByteDance or other companies, according to a leaked org chart reviewed by Business Insider — the sharpest single measure yet of how the platform's US e-commerce arm has swapped American leadership for executives trained in Chinese online retail.

The shift matters for two labor markets at once: the executives displaced from TikTok's US operations teams, and the sellers and creators whose income now depends on decisions made by leaders importing strategies from Douyin, TikTok's Chinese counterpart.

Who actually runs TikTok Shop US?

Operations sit under Mu Qing, known as Mason, a former Douyin e-commerce executive who reports to Bob Kang, ByteDance's e-commerce lead. The person overseeing the US Shop creator team previously ran Douyin's creator team, according to the org chart and verified LinkedIn profiles.

A TikTok spokesperson said the Shop US leadership team "has remained largely unchanged for more than a year, and the entire organization is focused on helping American businesses of all sizes grow and succeed on the platform." The company cited a PF Global survey of businesses using TikTok Shop from May and June: 85% said the platform increased sales and revenue, and 81% said it reached customers unavailable through physical or online stores.

That survey was commissioned by TikTok itself — a caveat the company did not volunteer.

What happened to the US executives?

The team was not always built this way. In 2023 TikTok went on a hiring spree from Amazon, which controls roughly 35% of US online retail spend per Consumer Edge's July analysis. Recruits included Nicolas Le Bourgeois, a nine-year Amazon veteran, and Marni Levine, formerly of Meta and eBay.

In early 2025, ByteDance leadership told staff it was unhappy with US performance. Through performance reviews, reorganizations and layoffs, TikTok shed many US operations leaders, including Le Bourgeois. In March 2025 it replaced top US advertising leader Blake Chandlee with Will Liu, an executive from ByteDance's Chinese monetization products; North America ad executive Khartoon Weiss left in April. In May 2025, Patrick Nommensen was appointed "external ambassador" for US TikTok Shop, per a memo from Mu — the local face, not the decision-maker.

Does the China playbook work in the US?

The numbers cut both ways. TikTok Shop captured about 2% of US online retail spend in July, up from 1.2% a year earlier, according to Consumer Edge, which analyzes US card transactions. In December, TikTok reported more than $500 million in sales across the Black Friday-to-Cyber Monday stretch.

Yet strategy missteps followed. A mandate forcing all US merchants onto TikTok's in-house fulfillment program by end of March drew seller backlash and was scrapped in February. In 2024, ByteDance pushed Douyin-style live commerce through companywide training; a forecast from EMARKETER expects US live commerce to reach just under $20 billion this year — niche next to the hundreds of billions it drives in China.

"Leadership from China is used to consumers or sellers adjusting quickly, but in the US, customers have alternatives, and if they don't like an experience they will not usually stick around," one former shipping-strategy staffer said.

Three insiders said elements of "996 work culture" — 12-hour days plus weekends — had intensified in US e-commerce hubs such as Seattle. One current staffer described colleagues "hungrier, used to the long hours, more prepared for the chaos of moving quickly."

Wharton professor Z. John Zhang noted that firms expanding abroad typically bring their own executives, which invites assumptions from the home market. ByteDance's January divestment of TikTok US transferred data oversight to investors but left e-commerce and advertising control firmly in Chinese hands — a structure sellers and employees alike will navigate as the platform's US share keeps climbing.