ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming exits board, joining exodus by Chinese tech founders

By Zheping Huang

ByteDance Ltd.’s billionaire founder Zhang Yiming has stepped down as chairman, moving further away from the TikTok owner after announcing he was stepping down as chief executive officer in May.

New CEO Liang Rubo has replaced Zhang on the five-member board that also includes representatives from investors Susquehanna International Group and Sequoia Capital China, according to a person familiar with the matter. Zhang, 38, will still be involved in formulating the Chinese tech firm’s longer-term strategy, the person said, asking to not be identified discussing private matters.

Representatives with ByteDance and TikTok declined to comment.

The world’s most valuable startup has been undergoing a major restructuring and making a bigger push into enterprise software after Beijing’s year-long crackdown on the consumer internet. Shouzi Chew has stepped down as chief financial officer of the social media giant to focus on running its hit global product TikTok, as part of the reorganisation, ByteDance told employees in a Tuesday memo.

Also Read | ByteDance to reorganise, CFO Liang Rubo steps down to focus on TikTok

ByteDance had kicked off initial preparations for public listing of its domestic assets, Bloomberg News reported in April. Since then, regulatory changes in China meant Zhang’s company has had to proceed cautiously, even before the IPO of Didi Global Inc. in New York sparked a backlash in Beijing. The company has repeatedly said it’s not ready for an IPO.

The board change, first reported by Chinese tech outlet Late Post, marks a further retreat by the tycoon, who has an estimated fortune of $44.5 billion, from the app factory that he created nearly a decade ago. When Zhang said he would step down as CEO in May, he told employees that he felt he hadn’t achieved as much as he had hoped to in areas like strategic opportunities and social responsibility.

Other tech founders in China have also retreated from their creations in recent months. Kuaishou Technology founder Su Hua said last week he will cede the CEO role to fellow co-founder Cheng Yixiao, while JD.com Inc. in September named a new president, saying that Chairman Richard Liu will concentrate on long-term strategies. Pinduoduo Inc.’s Colin Huang also gave up both CEO and chairman titles at the e-commerce firm.

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