Shou Chew, TikTok’s CEO, recently answered queries from the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce about the app’s potential threat to national security. The questioning came in light of a suggestion that Washington is considering banning the popular app. 

Shou Chew’s family came up during his appearance before congress. Let’s take a closer look at Shou Chew’s wife, Vivian Kao. 

Shou Chew met his wife, Vivian Kao, in 2008 at Harvard Business School

Shou Chew and Vivian Kao started dating after meeting at Harvard Business School in 2008. Kao is Taiwanese American. 

She joined HBS after studying economics and Chinese Studies at Wellesley College from 2000 to 2004. Shou enrolled in the institution after working for Goldman Sachs in London for several years. 

The pair married and have two children, whose identities are a mystery. The couple’s kids came up during an interview at The New York Times’ 2022 DealBook Summit, in which Shou said his children are too young to use TikTok. 

During Shou’s congressional hearing, Congresswoman Nanette Barragan asked Shou why he doesn’t let his children, aged 8 and 6, from using TikTok. Shou explained:

“I have seen these news articles. Let me address that. My kids live in Singapore and in Singapore, we do not have under-13 experience. If they lived here in the United States, I would let them use the under-13 experience.”

Kao and Shou are successful in their careers. Her Linkedin page states that she works in Singapore as the CEO of Tamarind Global and is an independent non-executive director of Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited. Kao is also on the Board of Trustees of Wellesley College, her alma mater, which she joined in July 2022. 

According to The Straits Times, Kao and Shou volunteer at and donate to Harvard Business School. “We want to benefit as many people as possible with our support,” Shou said. “We want the leadership of HBS to decide where to allocate our contributions. We believe the school has the ability to amplify what we contribute.”