While TikTok tends to be stocked with photogenic, dancing teenagers, Su’s stars are a diverse, at times low-brow, crew of entertainers, often from rural regions.
IN 2017, Su Hua, the founder of a Chinese startup called Kuaishou Technology, was on the verge of closing the biggest deal of his career – the acquisition of a fledgling video service that would become TikTok.
But arch-rival ByteDance Ltd swooped in with a better offer, and Su missed out on what has become a global sensation.Now, the 38-year-old entrepreneur is getting some payback.
In February, Kuaishou went public in Hong Kong, raising more than US$5bil (RM21.14bil) on the strength of its booming video and commerce operations.
