TikTok has been discussing with the government of the UK in the last few months for locating its headquarters in London, a source who is familiar with the matter stated that as a part of a strategy to distance itself from the Chinese ownership.
London is one of the many locations that the company is thinking about, but no final decision has not been taken by the video-sharing platform, the source mentioned as per reports.
TikTok Planning to Shift Headquarters
It was not immediately clear what other locations are under consideration. But it has hired aggressively in California this year, including poaching Kevin Mayer, a former Walt Disney Co executive, to be TikTok's chief executive. He is based in the United States. TikTok is facing heavy scrutiny in Washington over suspicions China could force the company to turn over user data. TikTok is owned by China-based ByteDance.
The source said the company is largely focused on its issues in the United States over the last few weeks, but has not ruled out London as a potential location for its new headquarters. TikTok is expected to "significantly" increase the size of its workforce in London and other key locations outside of China over the next several years, the source said.
The Sunday Times reported that Tiktok has broken off talks with the UK government to open a global headquarters in Britain. A source said Tiktok was still in discussions with Britain's government. TikTok declined to comment.
