In 2024, the TikTok chief executive officer was named an honorary chair for the 2024 Met Gala, themed Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion. He donned a sleek white tailored suit and was accompanied by his wife Vivian Kao who he met at Harvard Business School.

In his 2022 University College London (UCL) alumni video address, he shares how he had no “big plans” for his future. He says: “After graduation, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do or where life would take [me] … I worked hard with what I had. I put myself out there and I took chances when they came.” This led him to start his career as a banker for the Goldman Sachs Group in London a stint at venture capital firm DST Global.

During the last Senate hearing, Chew shared that he served his National Service for two and a half years as a commissioned officer in the Singapore Armed Forces.

After graduating from Hwa Chong Institution in Singapore in 1999, Chew went on to study at University College London where he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in economics in 2006. He went on to receive his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Harvard Business School in 2010. 

Over the years, Chew and his wife Vivian Kao have given back to the Harvard community significantly. The pair have helped out at class fundraising efforts and have joined the Harvard Business School alumni board and the school’s fund investors society. The latter recognises leadership donations to the Harvard Business School fund. 

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Chew met Kao over email while they were both studying at Harvard Business School in 2008 and began dating shortly after. Kao is an American of Taiwanese descent and, similar to Chew, received her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2010. They are currently married with two children. 

Chew's first venture into the tech sector was during his MBA at Harvard Business School. While studying for his degree, Chew was also an intern at Facebook. At that time, the social media platform was still a start-up and would later go public in 2012. 

The Met Gala 2022, themed In America: An Anthology of Fashion, saw some of the biggest celebrities and industry leaders walking down the red carpet while donning glamorous outfits. Among the attendees were Chew and his wife, Vivian. 

Good Class Bungalows (GCB) are one of the most exclusive properties available in Singapore; in 2021, it was reported that Chew purchased one at SG$86 million. According to Business Times, Chew's property is located in Queen Astrid Park, one of Singapore’s most affluent districts. The property is also said to sit on an area of over 30,000 sq ft. 

One of Chew's first full-time jobs was as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, a leading global financial institution that does investment management, consumer banking and more.

Chew was there from 2006 to 2008 before moving on to DST Investment Management where he was a partner from 2010 to 2015. 

Chew joined Xiaomi as their chief financial officer in 2015 where he brought unique investment insights and financial skills to the table.

Xiaomi is one of the biggest Chinese smartphone companies and Chew spent five years there. He held his role as chief financial officer till he moved into being the president of the company's international business.

During his time, he was able to secure financing from investors and played a huge part in seeing Xiaomi get listed.

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In 2017, Bytedance acquired the popular short-video platform, Musical.ly. The following year, it merged Musical.ly with TikTok to launch it into the global sensation it is today. 

Later in March 2021, ByteDance—the parent company of TikTok—hired Chew as its new chief financial officer.

Chew remained in this position for only three months before he was promoted to chief executive of TikTok, a role which he continues to hold today. 

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