TikTok US Head of Policy Steps Down Amid Ongoing Negotiations

Photo Credit: Michael Beckerman / LinkedIn

TikTok’s U.S. Public Policy Chief Michael Beckerman is stepping down from his role to transition to a global advisory position. The departure comes amid the second extension of the U.S. deadline for ByteDance to divest from TikTok.

The Information reported the departure on Wednesday, citing a staff memo sent to TikTok employees. ByteDance has not publicly commented on the departure, but it comes amid a trade war between the United States and China. Competition to acquire the U.S.-based business of TikTok has heated up, with AppLovin Corp confirming a preliminary bid in an exchange filing. Meanwhile, Amazon and a group led by OnlyFans Founder Tim Stokely are also exploring making a potential bid.

So far, Beijing has stonewalled any talks of selling U.S. operations, unwilling to force ByteDance to sell-off the app when 170 million Americans use TikTok. Vice President JD Vance was put in charge of negotiations, with his previous position being that terms of the deal would be finalized by April 5. That deadline has come and passed, with the Trump administration extending the deadline seemingly with no deal in place.

Michael Beckerman has played a central role in TikTok’s efforts to resist a U.S. government ban. Beckerman’s departure comes at a critical moment as TikTok faces ongoing political and legal pressure in the United States over ownership. The U.S. government requires ByteDance to divest U.S. operations or face a total ban. It appears Beckerman’s exit is part of a broader wave of management changes and restructuring at TikTok.

That includes layoffs that have impacted TikTok’s U.S. e-commerce division and a shift in operational oversight to global leaders from China and Singapore. The company’s U.S. e-commerce team has faced increased scrutiny amid the ongoing trade war between the United States and China—particularly because the platform has underperformed for ByteDance.

As of now, TikTok remains available in the United States, but it’s unclear how long that will last. The new deadline for divestment is June 19—and Beijing is still as unwilling as ever to allow ByteDance to continue with any sale negotiations. ByteDance has signaled before that it would rather see the U.S. operations shuttered entirely than to divest and sell them off to an American buyer.

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