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ByteDance's Zhang Yiming steps down as chairman

According to the individual familiar with the development, new CEO Liang Rubo has taken over as chairman of the company's five-member board, which comprises General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management, and Susquehanna International Group. 

ByteDance Zhang Yiming steps down as chairman of TikTok parent company gcw
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New Delhi, First Published Nov 3, 2021, 4:17 PM IST

Zhang Yiming, the creator of ByteDance, has stepped down as chairman of TikTok's parent company. He announced that he would step down as CEO in May, marking the latest change at the internet behemoth. Meanwhile, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will leave his position as CFO of ByteDance to focus entirely on the short video platform. According to the individual familiar with the development, new CEO Liang Rubo has taken over as chairman of the company's five-member board, which comprises General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management, and Susquehanna International Group. 

It was not immediately clear when Zhang quit the chairmanship or whether his more than 50 per cent voting rights at the corporation had changed. ByteDance said in May that Zhang would be promoted to "key strategist" at the end of the year. Zhang's surprising announcement in May saw his college roommate and co-founder Liang assume the helm in steering the firm through a growing tide of new rules aimed at Big Tech. On Tuesday, the firm announced a substantial organisational restructure at ByteDance, creating six business segments.

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In recent months, several founders at some of China's most well-known digital businesses have given up on managing day-to-day operations amid a broad crackdown by Chinese authorities on big swaths of the industry. Kuaishou, the owner of short-video applications, said last week that its co-founder, Su Hua, had stepped down as CEO. Huang Zheng, the creator of e-commerce startup Pinduoduo (PDD.O), stood down as chairman this year, having already abandoned his CEO position. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, stepped down as chairman of the e-commerce powerhouse in 2019.

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