Good morning! Chrystia Freeland is running to be Canada’s next prime minister, Mark Zuckerberg reportedly blamed Sheryl Sandberg for a Meta inclusivity initiative, and Miranda Qu’s Xiaohongshu app takes off with American users due to the TikTok ban.
– Social media refuge. To say the rollout of the U.S.’s TikTok ban has been a mess would be an understatement. After years of back and forth in Washington, the Chinese-owned video sharing app officially went dark here Saturday night. But President Donald Trump, being sworn into office for the second time today, has promised he would not enforce the ban—a move that seems legally dubious at best—and the company said Sunday it was “in the process” of restoring service to U.S. users. How it will all shake out is anything but clear.
What is certain is that the ban will have detrimental financial effects on influencers, U.S.-based employees, small businesses, and others across the country, not to mention TikTok parent company ByteDance Ltd. But it has also had plenty of indirect beneficiaries, including one of Asia’s Most Powerful Women, Miranda Qu, currently No. 60 on Fortune’s ranking.
In 2013, Qu and partner Charlwin Mao founded the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu, an amalgamation of sorts of Instagram, Pinterest, X, and Tripadvisor. It now has a user base of over 300 million people—skewing young, female, and Chinese—and is valued at around $17 to $20 billion. In 2024, it was on track to double profits to more than $1 billion, and is backed by the likes of Alibaba.
A week ago, few people in the U.S. were aware of the app, which American users call “RedNote.” But now, it has become one of the top-downloaded apps in the country as something of a protest against the TikTok ban, with some American users claiming to be there as “TikTok refugees.”
Qu, 40, is currently president of and owns an estimated 10% stake in the private company; Forbes estimates she has a net worth of around $1.3 billion. She grew up in Wuhan, China, and studied journalism at Beijing Foreign Studies University before working in marketing, as Fortune’s Nicholas Gordon reported in October 2024.
Like the TikTok ban itself, whether the American “refugees” will stick with RedNote is unclear. The app is primarily used by people who speak Mandarin; many of the features do not currently have English translations. And it’s not a one-to-one replacement for TikTok, though both feature influencers selling products to millions of users. Plus, if the ban really isn’t enforced, Americans could be back on TikTok with no need for refuge. Conversely, RedNote itself could be banned under the same law.
Alicia Adamczyk
alicia.adamczyk@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Inauguration Day. Donald Trump and JD Vance will be sworn in as president and vice president today—here's what to watch. Country music singer Carrie Underwood is performing. Michelle Obama is skipping the ceremony. And the Women's March is returning, rebranded to the People's March. Fortune
- Entering the race. Canada’s former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland announced that she plans on running for prime minister to replace Justin Trudeau. Freeland resigned from her previous position in December, as she and Trudeau clashed over fiscal policy; three weeks later, Trudeau shared that he would be stepping down. New York Times
- Blame game. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly blamed former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg for an inclusivity initiative at the company. Zuckerberg told an advisor to Donald Trump that he will not get in the way of Trump’s plans to fight DEI initiatives, as Meta has made changes to its content moderation policies and eliminated its chief diversity officer position. Zuckerberg has since praised Sandberg on Threads, calling her “a legend in the industry.” Fortune
- Symbolic statement. President Joe Biden said that the Equal Rights Amendment, which protects gender equality, should be considered ratified. His statement is symbolic—the amendment cannot be certified as it was not ratified by Congress’ deadline in 1982. AP
- Growing the team. Former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati is making hires for her new AI venture. So far, she has pulled 10 researchers and engineers from her former company as well as Google DeepMind and CharacterAI. Wired
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments, is stepping down from the Starbucks board; she has been a director since 2005.
ATCC, which manages biomaterials, appointed Ruth R. Cheng as president and CEO. She was most recently the company’s SVP and general manager.
Luminance, a legal AI platform, appointed Martina King as chair. King is CEO of Featurespace.
Emmes Group, a tech and AI-focused contract research organization, named Germaine Gross chief commercial officer. Previously, she was senior vice president of Asia Pacific at ICON.
Commercetools named Shiri Mosenzon Erez chief product officer. Most recently, she was chief product officer of Ocado Technology.
Amika, a haircare and tools company, appointed Nilofer Vahora as CMO. She was most recently CMO at Milk Makeup.
Foot Locker elected Sonia Syngal to its board of directors. Most recently, she was president and CEO of Gap.
ON MY RADAR
Meet Trump’s leading pick to oversee Wall Street regulation at the Fed Washington Post
Doris Kearns Goodwin: ‘The robber barons probably thought they were God too’ Financial Times
The sex abuse scandal that’s rocking Miss Hall’s, an elite Berkshires boarding school for girls Vanity Fair
PARTING WORDS
“I hope that women see me as a reflection of themselves… You know, a mom, a grandmom, a working woman, a sister, a friend.”
—First lady Jill Biden reflects on her years in the White House as they come to a close
