Blake Chandlee, global solutions leader at ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, has announced that he will be leaving the company. Until now, he has been a staunch advocate for the video app's continued existence in the United States. He has overseen ad sales and marketing on the platform since joining in 2019, but his resignation will take place on April 1. However, he will remain an advisor. "As our offerings become more technical and our clients' product solutions become more sophisticated to deliver even greater value, it is important that Global Business Solutions (GBS) and Global Monetization Product Technology (GMPT) increasingly work hand in hand," Chandlee explained in an internal memo cited by Adweek. At this time, TikTok has not confirmed whether anyone will replace him. And he continued: "To make this possible, I've decided it's best to streamline it under the direction of a single department and will reduce my day-to-day role to that of an advisor," Chandlee emphasizes. What appears to be a team restructuring, purely based on workflow needs, is met with skepticism in a climate of several successive resignations. In recent days, other senior TikTok executives have also left their roles. For example, Lucy Banks, head of partnership solutions and global business marketing for Europe; Ole Obermann, global director of music business development; Emily Stubbs, global head of litigation; Jack Bamberger, managing director of the US commercial agency; and Sameer Singh, director of ad sales for North America on the app. TikTok adrift? This news comes amid uncertainty in the United States about whether TikTok will continue in the country. Doubts have been raised by Donald Trump's measures, which he claims are necessary to protect national security from possible Chinese espionage. Nearly 30 other countries have also adopted various restrictive measures in recent months, including Nepal, India, Russia, France, and Canada. After the 12-hour blackout that left TikTok unavailable to millions of American users, the Republican president granted a 75-day grace period, which expires on April 5. This extension opened the door to negotiations for the United States to purchase at least 50% of ByteDance as a requirement for its survival in the country. The Trump administration is seeking "a solution that simultaneously protects national security and safeguards a platform used by 170 million Americans." The offer is tempting, and several companies are interested in jumping on TikTok to grab their share of the pie. But before the ship sinks or unknown hands take the helm, many executives have decided not to stay and watch how everything might fall apart. TikTok loses some human talent Several departments within the platform are left without staff. Some positions have been filled with other professionals, while others have not. Lucy Banks, mentioned above, was in charge of finding new creative opportunities and proposing them to brands across Europe. She and her team were credited with securing the deal with Aldi for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and with Unilever for the viral cleaning trend known as CleanTok. This means the loss of valuable talent, as Banks has extensive experience with milestone positions such as Alphabet, YouTube, Google, Bauer Media Group, Adventure, and Zenith Optimedia, among others. Some of these departures from the company are shrouded in secrecy. Campaign UK reports that Banks is leaving TikTok to redirect her career in other directions, motivated by her own motivation. As for the giant Chinese company, it has confirmed this resignation but offered no explanation.