Zhang Yiming Steps Down as CEO of ByteDance
Zhang Yiming, the founder of Byte Jump, announced in a letter to the company’s employees this week that he is stepping down as CEO and will be replaced by Liang Rupo, the company’s co-founder. This is after Huang Zheng, the chairman of Poundland, another founder of a large network company resigned. Some commentators believe that the top management of large private companies are only “proxy holders” and are ready to retire at any time.
Zhang Yiming said in a letter to all employees, since the start-up, ByteDance has been fortunate to seize the opportunity of the times, based on machine learning technology in mobile and video innovation and practice, and has made some achievements. Although the company’s business is developing well, it is hoped that the company can also continue to have greater innovative breakthroughs and become more creative and meaningful. Therefore, Zhang Yiming decided to put aside the day-to-day management of the company and focus on long-term important matters such as visionary strategy, corporate culture and social responsibility, planning to “focus relatively on learning knowledge, thinking systematically, researching new things, experimenting and experiencing, and creating more possibilities for the company over a ten-year period.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Chinese social media commentator Zhao Zhi said that Zhang Yiming’s decision to step down as CEO of his own company is by no means a business decision in the current climate where everything must be subordinated to political needs. Because.
“There are many emerging companies that are developing very well, or maybe it was originally a state project. It’s just that he’s holding shares on behalf of the state. Your success is likely to be the state combined with a lot of think tanks to start this company, you are just a proxy holder, once the job is done, you should also step down.”
Some commentators believe that the top management of large private companies are only “proxy holders” and are ready to retire at any time. The picture shows the logo of Bytedance Technology bytedance, headquartered in Beijing.
Bytedance, founded by Zhang Yiming, is currently valued at nearly $400 billion, with a quarter of the company’s equity held by him personally, worth nearly $100 billion. Its performance in just eight years has been the envy of many people.
Private company bosses are generally under pressure from outside the business
Wang Aizhong, a Guangzhou-based dissident who follows large Internet companies, told the station that he had also seen news about Zhang Yiming stepping down as the company’s CEO, causing shock in the private sector:.
“Some time ago Huang Zheng, chairman of Poundland, also quit. Today it happened again that ‘Byte Jumping’ Zhang Yiming quit. They are both very young, less than forty years old. The outside world also has a lot to say about this, but of course one thing is certain. They must have been under pressure from outside the business, maybe even outside the capital.”
Many netizens were puzzled as to why Zhang Yiming, 38, gave up a world-class company that he had built with his own hands when his career was in full swing. Sina Weibo netizen message wrote, “do not understand this year to big brothers are stepping down, learn Ma Yun? Kneel too long to be seen through, change someone to kneel.”
Mr. Duan, a scholar graduated from Hebei University, told the station that in the last decade, China’s large Internet companies have grown rapidly, such as Alibaba, Tencent, Jindo, Byte Jump, etc., but the founders of these companies have recently left one after another. One has to be surprised. He said that the capital of private enterprises is being swallowed up under the policy of the state advancing and the people retreating.
Zhang Yiming’s company, ByteDive, is now valued at nearly $400 billion, and his personal stake in a quarter of the company is worth nearly $100 billion.
“Zhang Yiming’s resignation is likely to be a result of the situation and a last resort. The Chinese Communist Party has further tightened its control over Internet companies, with Alibaba being fined sky-high and Tencent being punished some time ago. In addition, in many areas of the national economy, state-run capital is taking over the city, and the ultimate holders of big Internet companies like these are powerful families that could also be suppressed by the highest authorities.”
Zhang Yiming’s fate is similar to Jack Ma’s
Three weeks ago, Fortune (Chinese edition) released its list of China’s top 40 business elites under 40 in 2021. At the top of the list this year is still Zhang Yiming, as ByteDance continues to soar in the past year.
According to current affairs commentator Guo Baosheng, Zhang Yiming’s stepping down is very similar to Jack Ma’s announcement two years ago that he was resigning from his position as chairman of the board of Alibaba.
“Ma Yun was forced to resign, after people are rich and famous, the tree attracts the wind. At that time, Jack Ma had to resign. Now Zhang Yiming is also in the same situation. Another reason is that Byte Jump is caught in the storm of the confrontation between China and the United States and the competition between China and the United States.”
Information shows that the successor Liang Rupo is Zhang Yiming’s college classmate, in 2012, Liang Rupo and Zhang Yiming co-founded Byte Jump. since 2016, Liang Rupo is responsible for the flying book and efficiency engineering. since 2020, Liang Rupo is responsible for the group’s human resources and management and other work. In the past year, ByteDance has grown from 60,000 to 100,000 employees worldwide.
On the same day, Zuo Hui, the founder and chairman of another large private company focusing on real estate agency services, died suddenly due to an unexpected deterioration of illness. Zuo Hui, who was only 50 years old, founded Shell Housing, the largest player in China’s inventory market. He led Shell Housing to the capital market in August 2020.
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