Double Harvard graduate Adam Presser takes the helm of TikTok’s new U.S. joint venture and seeks to turn the Chinese company’s regulatory reset into lasting success.
Presser previously served as chief of staff to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew between April 2022 and July 2023, before rising through the ranks to chief operating officer and finally head of TikTok’s operations and trust and safety, according to his LinkedIn profile. Based in Los Angeles, Presser must now tackle one of the most politically charged jobs in the technology sector: leading TikTok’s new American entity, which is trying to reassure Washington and retain its users.
TikTok did not immediately respond Fortunerequest for comment.
Yet Presser may be well prepared for the challenge, thanks to his high-level education and nearly 20-year corporate career. He attended the private Harvard School-West Lake School for high school. He then went to Yale, where he earned an undergraduate degree in Chinese language and a master’s degree in East Asian studies. While at Yale, Presser earned the Richard U. Light Scholarship study Chinese abroad in China.
His interest in China began with Chinese films, he said in a interview with former students in 2023 with the Los Angeles-based John Thomas Dye School, which he attended before Harvard-Westlake.
“For three years in high school, I watched Chinese films and had this incredibly eye-opening experience of feeling that on the surface it was a very foreign and different language and culture, but through the films you were able to begin to understand that in reality many of the themes are the same as you would see in any typical Western film,” says Presser. quoted as saying.
Education and business career
After Yale, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
Early in his corporate career, Presser used his Chinese language skills as a senior manager for Ticketmaster in China. He later held executive positions, first at Warner Bros. Entertainment, then at WarnerMedia. At WarnerMedia, one of his roles was leading the company’s operations in China, Australia and New Zealand.
Presser’s international roles and experience in China could stand him in good stead as TikTok’s U.S. joint venture works to protect Americans’ data while providing a “global TikTok experience,” according to the company official. announcement.
The American company TikTok, called TikTok USDS Joint Venture, was announced on Thursday and will be mainly owned by American investors. Under the new structure, TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, retains only one 19.9% stake to comply with the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, passed by Congress in 2024. Oracleinvestment company Silver Lake, as well as Abu Dhabi state investment company MGX will each own 15% of the company, according to a company statement.
While TikTok’s Chew will sit on the US joint venture’s board, Presser is now the daily face of corporate America at a time when every detail of the company’s governance is likely to be scrutinized. Representatives from Silverlake, Oracle and MGX, among others, will also serve on the board.
Presser’s promotion “reads like a move for continuity and credibility,” said Shawn Cole, president and co-founder of Cowen Partners Executive Search, said Fortune. Cole described Presser as a member of the company with knowledge of institutional media and direct ties to TikTok’s CEO, as well as a leader who “understands the intricacies of U.S. regulatory oversight,” thanks to his previous work as head of trust and safety at TikTok.
TikTok’s U.S. entity is the culmination of a long-running effort by President Donald Trump and U.S. politicians to force a separation from Chinese control — with the threat of an outright ban — over fears the platform could be used to access Americans’ data or influence public opinion.
Still, with Presser at the helm, Cole said he expects TikTok’s U.S. joint venture to simply serve as an evolution rather than a reinvention.
“The agreement is designed to allay the concerns of the U.S. government, and Presser is a logical choice to deliver that message,” he said.
