Zhang Yiming

Zhang Yiming
Born	(1983-04-01) April 1, 1983 Longyan, Fujian, China
Occupation	Internet entrepreneur
Known for	Founder of ByteDance, creator of Toutiao and Douyin (TikTok)

Zhang Yiming (; born 1 April 1983) is a prominent Chinese internet entrepreneur and the creator of ByteDance in 2012, the company behind the news aggregation app Toutiao and the video-sharing platform Douyin (known internationally as TikTok). As of May 2025, Zhang's net worth is valued at billion, placing him among the globe’s wealthiest individuals.

On 4 November 2021, Zhang resigned from his role as ByteDance CEO following a leadership transition that began in May 2021. Nevertheless, he continues to hold more than half of ByteDance's voting power, preserving considerable influence over the enterprise. The worldwide triumph of TikTok elevated him to become China's wealthiest person in 2024.

Early life and career

Born on 1 April 1983 in Longyan, Fujian, China, Zhang was raised as an only child by parents who worked as civil servants. He enrolled at Nankai University in Tianjin in 2001, where he studied microelectronics and software engineering. He graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in computer engineering and met his future wife during his university years.

In February 2006, Zhang joined travel website Kuxun as its fifth employee and first engineer, advancing to technical director within a year. He left Kuxun in 2008 to work at Microsoft, but soon departed due to corporate limitations. Subsequently, he joined startup Fanfou, which ultimately was unsuccessful. In 2009, as Expedia prepared to acquire Kuxun, Zhang took control of its real estate search segment and founded 99fang.com, his inaugural company, which he exited three years later.

ByteDance

In 2012, Zhang recognized a deficiency in mobile content discovery within China’s market, criticizing search leader Baidu for blending search results with hidden advertisements. He envisioned employing artificial intelligence to provide users with personalized content recommendations. Despite initial doubts from venture capitalists, Susquehanna International Group invested in the project, enabling ByteDance to launch the news app Toutiao in August 2012. Within two years, it amassed over 13 million daily active users. Later on, Sequoia Capital led a $100 million funding round in 2014.

Differing from many Chinese technology executives who concentrated solely on domestic markets, Zhang emphasized international growth. He steered ByteDance’s workplace communication tool Lark toward markets in the United States, Europe, and Japan instead of focusing exclusively on China. His leadership approach resembled that of American tech companies such as Google, incorporating bimonthly town hall meetings and minimizing hierarchical titles.

ByteDance quietly introduced TikTok (known domestically as Douyin) in September 2015; it rapidly gained traction among global millennials. The company acquired Musical.ly for $800 million in 2017 and integrated it into TikTok.

In 2018, China’s National Radio and Television Administration ordered the closure of ByteDance’s Neihan Duanzi app. Zhang issued a public apology, admitting that the app conflicted with socialist core values and committed to closer collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party to ensure content compliance.

By late 2018, ByteDance had surpassed one billion monthly active users across its platforms and reached a valuation of $75 billion, overtaking Uber as the world’s most valuable private startup.

In September 2020, legal documents from the United States Department of Justice described Zhang as a "mouthpiece" for the Chinese Communist Party.

In May 2021, Zhang announced his intention to resign as ByteDance CEO; Liang Rubo succeeded him.

In May 2023, The New York Times reported that a former employee filed a lawsuit accusing Zhang of facilitating bribes to politician Lu Wei.

Honors and Recognition

In 2013, Zhang was featured in Forbes magazine's China edition of the 30 Under 30 list. Later, in 2018, he earned a spot on Fortune magazine's prestigious 40 Under 40 ranking. Additionally, in 2019, Time magazine recognized him as one of the 100 Most Influential People globally.

See also

• Lawsuits involving TikTok