TikTok appoints Thomas Wlazik GM for Europe and Israel
TikTok has appointed Thomas Wlazik as general manager for Europe and Israel.
He replaces Stuart Flint, who announced last week on LinkedIn that he would be stepping down after five years as the European lead of TikTok’s global business solutions team.
In his post, Flint said: “When I joined the TikTok, I could never have imagined the impact this platform would have — not just on the world, but me personally. It’s been a privilege to work with some of the most creative, driven and inspiring people helping to shape a product that redefined culture.”
Wlazik joined TikTok in 2020. Before that, he spent 13 years in various positions at Google in Germany and Ireland. Since 2022, he has been TikTok’s general manager of global business solutions for DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and Israel.
He will continue to be based at TikTok’s Berlin office as he expands his remit to oversee the rest of the European operation.
Flint did not reveal what his next venture would be, but indicated that for the time being he would take advantage of spending time with his family.
US sale deadline looms amid senior leadership turnover
The departure of Flint takes place amid a wider turnover among TikTok’s commercial leadership team and uncertainty over TikTok’s ownership in the US.
Last month, head of global business solutions Blake Chandlee announced he would be stepping down from his post to move to a smaller advisory role at the company. Lucy Banks, TikTok’s head of partnerships solutions, also exited in March.
TikTok ban uncertainty led US creators to focus on rival platforms
Meanwhile, TikTok parent ByteDance has until 5 April to sell its US business or be banned in the market, although US president Donald Trump had previously led an effort to push back the deadline, which was originally set under Joe Biden’s administration for 19 January.
As the deadline looms, more bidders for the social video giant have come to light. These include Amazon; Zoop, an investment group led by OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely; and Oracle.
Oracle is reportedly involved in a potential deal that would see the app’s algorithm be leased from ByteDance to a new US-based entity. Under that plan, ByteDance would retain a minority stake.
Commerce comes into focus
Despite the uncertainty, TikTok has continued existing efforts to expand its ecommerce and search business.
Last week, TikTok Shop launched in France, Germany and Italy as part of a wider planned expansion of the company’s retail proposition.
In a conversation with The Media Leader in March, Adolfo Fernández, TikTok’s global head of product strategy and operations, commerce, said the social platform wants to “drive commerce everywhere”, adding that he does not believe users’ search behaviour is “isolated from commerce”.
“We are pioneering […] changes in how people shop,” Fernández said, highlighting that sellers on the platform doubled in the past year to exceed 200,000 globally.
Meanwhile, with the launch of TikTok’s Smart+ AI-led performance suite last autumn, brands and marketers have been able to more efficiently plan and activate campaigns on the platform.
Comparing TikTok to a contemporary digital shopping mall, Fernández argued that the unique power of the platform is to drive shopping behaviours in an environment primarily focused on providing entertainment.
He added that TikTok’s relationships with brands have been “very stable” despite the uncertainty around the US ban or sale.
TikTok launches Smart+ performance AI tools and brings videos to retail stores
