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

Zhang Yiming, co-founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, advised employees of the Chinese know-how giant in a memo that he will action down as main government, the corporation disclosed on Thursday.

He will be succeeded by co-founder Rubo Liang. The move, initial noted by Reuters, signifies the largest corporate shake-up at ByteDance since its launch in 2012. The corporation grew to turn out to be a dominant social media force in China and turned TikTok into a worldwide sensation.

Mr Zhang wrote that Mr Liang, who was Bytedance’s head of human sources, experienced been “an a must have partner”, advancing the company’s know-how and choosing and handling men and women. He added that he would work with Mr Liang more than the up coming 6 months to make certain a smooth changeover.

Mr Zhang explained that just after a number of months of deliberation he concluded that he would have a greater effect on ByteDance’s extended-expression initiatives if he transitioned out of the main government role.

“The truth of the matter is, I lack some of the competencies that make an best manager. I am additional fascinated in analysing organisational and sector rules, and leveraging these theories to further more lessen management work, alternatively than really handling men and women,” Mr Zhang wrote.

“Likewise, I am not pretty social, preferring solitary things to do like remaining on line, looking through, listening to music and contemplating what might be achievable,” he added.

Mr Zhang’s selection to action down arrives significantly less than a month after ByteDance named its main economical officer Shouzi Chew as main government of TikTok.

TikTok has sought to length by itself from Beijing just after the United States elevated national security issues more than the basic safety of the particular knowledge it handles.

Previous US president Donald Trump’s administration sought to force ByteDance to divest regulate of the app. A US plan to promote TikTok’s American operations to a consortium that incorporated Oracle Corp and Walmart Inc languished, nevertheless, after ByteDance launched profitable legal problems.