ByteDance boss to step down in big shake-up at TikTok owner

Zhang Yiming, co-founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, instructed staff members of the Chinese technological know-how huge in a memo that he will step down as chief executive, the firm disclosed on Thursday.

He will be succeeded by co-founder Rubo Liang. The transfer, initially described by Reuters, signifies the biggest corporate shake-up at ByteDance since its start in 2012. The firm grew to come to be a dominant social media force in China and turned TikTok into a world-wide sensation.

Mr Zhang wrote that Mr Liang, who was Bytedance’s head of human methods, experienced been “an priceless partner”, advancing the company’s technological know-how and using the services of and managing individuals. He additional that he would get the job done with Mr Liang in excess of the following 6 months to ensure a easy changeover.

Mr Zhang reported that just after several months of deliberation he concluded that he would have a better affect on ByteDance’s lengthier-phrase initiatives if he transitioned out of the chief executive purpose.

“The reality is, I absence some of the abilities that make an excellent supervisor. I’m a lot more interested in analysing organisational and market place rules, and leveraging these theories to further more lessen administration get the job done, instead than essentially managing individuals,” Mr Zhang wrote.

“In the same way, I’m not very social, preferring solitary routines like staying on-line, looking through, listening to music and contemplating what might be achievable,” he additional.

Mr Zhang’s conclusion to step down comes much less than a month after ByteDance named its chief fiscal officer Shouzi Chew as chief executive of TikTok.

TikTok has sought to length itself from Beijing just after the United States elevated nationwide security problems in excess of the safety of the personalized info it handles.

Previous US president Donald Trump’s administration sought to force ByteDance to divest control of the app. A US plan to offer TikTok’s American functions to a consortium that provided Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc languished, even so, after ByteDance launched successful authorized issues.