ByteDance, parent company of TikTok, is a Chinese company founded in 2012. Its ambition is to revolutionize the economic, digital and technological world. But who is Zhang Yiming, the entrepreneur behind this Chinese tech giant?
Zhang Yiming’s journey and fortune
Zhang Yiming, born in 1983, is the co-founder of ByteDance, parent company of TikTok. He is a computer engineer, graduated from Nankai University in Tianjin. Although he is one of the richest people in China according to BloombergZhang Yiming remains extremely discreet about his private life. According to Bloomberg, Zhang Yiming is today the fifth richest person in China. Today, his wealth is estimated at $44.5 billion.
The launch and growth of ByteDance and TikTok
In 2012, Zhang Yiming launched ByteDance, one of China’s largest content platforms. The company is financed by large American investment funds and raised $75 billion in 2018. It is one of the largest unicorns in the world. As of May 2020, it is valued at more than $100 billion, according to Bloomberg. Now its valuation has reached $180 billion.
In order to establish itself in the highly competitive world of Tech, the company’s CEO plans to attract the best talents in artificial intelligence. He is even ready to pay a high price to seduce these profiles. He announced that he would pay salaries of up to $3 million per year to his employees. During 2020, ByteDance recruited around 100,000 people in its various departments (video games, livestreaming, content moderation, etc.) to ensure its growth and continually respond to its development needs.
If ByteDance is mainly known for its social video application TikTok, the company also has other mobile applications such as Toutiao or News Republic, a French application purchased by ByteDance which has since closed its doors. The company has now become a dominant force in social media in China and has propelled TikTok into an international dimension.
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The end of an era within ByteDance for Zhang Yiming
Zhang Yiming announced his resignation as CEO this week to focus on the company’s long-term strategy. However, he will keep his seat on the board of directors. According to Reutershe recognizes: “I don’t have some of the skills that make me an ideal manager”. He states thus: that he would be of better help to the company in a role that does not involve managing people directly and that he is not very sociable, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music and contemplate what could be possible. »
Liang Rubo, co-founder of Bytedance and until now head of human resources, will take over. The two partners have set themselves six months to ensure the transition period.
ByteDance in China’s sights?
Chinese authorities have been accusing Tech giants of non-competitive practices for several months and ByteDance is no exception to this rule. In fact, twelve companies involved in digital technology were fined last March for non-compliance with competition rules.
Similarly, Alibaba, the Chinese Amazon, received a fine amounting to 2.3 billion euros for abuse of a dominant position. Its CEO, Jack Ma, was even missing after criticizing the national authorities.
Presentation of TikTok, main subsidiary of ByteDance
What is TikTok?
TikTokok is a video sharing platform based around different themes: music, cooking, dance, fashion, etc. It allows users to shoot videos of around 60 seconds to a wide variety of songs and scripts. Internet users can post all kinds of content, alone or in pairs with other users, while having the possibility of integrating special effects and filters.
TikTok also offers weekly challenges to its users. These are video sketches used by a large number of users, encouraging them to offer various responses to the same content.
Today, the application has greatly diversified its services and has launched not only into e-commerce, but also into the recruitment of new recruits.
The History of TikTok
To properly trace the history of TikTok, it is important to note that the app did not begin rolling out under that name. It was created in 2016 by ByteDance under the name Douyin. In just one year, the application broke all records: it crossed 100 million users and exceeded one billion views per day.
The platform subsequently developed in other countries (Thailand, Japan, etc.) and was propelled to the top. But while TikTok was gaining ground around the world, a new competing application was growing in the United States: Musical.ly. The application overshadows TikTok, which reached first place in the App Store in the summer of 2015. To counter the competition, ByteDance bought Musical.ly in 2017 for $1 billion. A year later, the company closed Musical.ly and merged it with TikTok. Since this acquisition, TikTok has continued to grow and gain popularity.
In September 2019, TikTok became the first free iOS application in the United States. Nevertheless, the app has been repeatedly accused by the Trump administration of espionage and data theft. It has also been threatened with banning or takeover in the country. Donald Trump’s accusations were echoed by Senator Cotton, one of the supporters of the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act”. He then indicated that “ TikTok then collects and stores private information on servers accessible by the Chinese Communist Party. »
The US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously adopted a bill to ban TikTok on the office phones of government agents on May 12.
