- Zhang Yiming has built a $44.5 billion fortune since cofounding ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok.
- Despite being one of the wealthiest people in China, Zhang is extremely private and little is known about his personal life.
- Zhang recently stepped down as ByteDance CEO, saying he’s “not very social” and lacks management skills.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The widespread popularity of TikTok has not just created a new generation of social media stars, it has also created a social media billionaire.
Zhang Yiming, the 38-year-old software engineer who founded the app’s parent company, ByteDance, now has a net worth of $44.5 billion, Bloomberg estimates. Despite being one of the wealthiest people in China as ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zhang is extremely private and little is known about his personal life.
After running the company for nearly a decade, Zhang stepped down as CEO this week, Reuters reported, telling employees that he’s “not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and contemplating what may be possible.”
“The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager,” Zhang said, according to Reuters, saying he would be a better help to the company in a role that didn’t involve managing people directly.
Keep reading to learn everything we know about Zhang Yiming.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
