Zhang Yiming founded ByteDance in 2012, developing his company into a global force with TikTok. In announcing his departure as CEO, Zhang said he prefers "reading and daydreaming" to management.
Zhang Yiming, founder and global CEO of ByteDance - the Chinese owner of TikTokImage: Shannon Stapleton/REUTERS
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The chief executive officer of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, will step down from his position to focus on long-term goals for the company by the end of the year, the company announced on Thursday.
ByteDance is the China-based parent company of the video-sharing app, TikTok — which is particularly popular among younger social media users.
Zhang will be passing the baton to a longstanding colleague and the company's current chief of personnel, Lian Rubo. The two were also college roommates.
Why is Zhang Yiming leaving?
In a letter to employees, Zhang said he was interested in "analyzing organization and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people."
He also wrote that he was not as social and enjoyed solitary activities like "being online, reading, listening to music, and contemplating what may be possible."
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New role models? The rise of the German influencers
With millions of followers on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, here are some of Germany's most successful influencers today.
Image: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance
Bianca 'Bibi' Classen
Bianca Classen a.k.a. "BibisBeautyPalace" has been pretty successful playing the girl-next-door on social media. Her fortune is estimated at around €3 million ($3.6 million). That is her income from her YouTube videos (with almost six million subscribers), Instagram advertising collabs (with almost eight million followers), and her own beauty brand.
Image: Jens Kalaene/dpa/picture alliance
Younes Zarou
Younes Zarou is the most successful TikTok star in Germany. He has about 30 million followers on his two accounts. He uploads colorful videos with accompanying DIY videos on the rapidly growing platform. In March 2020, he entertained his followers live on TikTok around the clock for a month.
Image: Bernd Kammerer/dpa/picture alliance
Pamela Reif
Pamela Reif was tried in 2020 on charges of hidden advertising and lost the case. The court declared that advertising must be marked as such on Instagram — even if it is only a gratuitous recommendation. This did not put a dent in the fitness influencer's popularity though, and her videos boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lisa and Lena Mantler started uploading lip-syncing and dance videos when they were 13 years old onto a platform called Musical.ly, which later became TikTok. They were a big hit, but withdrew from the platform in March 2019 due to security concerns — only to return in May 2020, much to the delight of their international fanbase.
Image: Clemens Bilan/Getty Images
Gronkh
Born Erik Range, Gronkh is a veteran of the gaming scene and one of its most successful influencers. He has had a YouTube channel since 2010, and for two years, he had the most subscribers among all German channels. He became known through the "Let's Play" videos, in which he filmed himself playing video games. Gronkh is also successful on the streaming channel Twitch.
Image: Christoph Hardt/Future Image/imago images
Stefanie Giesinger
Fashion, beauty and travel are all topics that go down well with Instagram users — a fact Stefanie Giesinger, who is one of the top German influencers in these areas, is well aware of. Crowned "Germany's Next Topmodel" in 2014, she's only occasionally seen on the catwalk these days. She has also founded her own sustainable fashion label.
Image: Federico Pestellini/PanoramiC/imago images
Rezo
This YouTuber's video, "The destruction of the CDU," which criticizes Angela Merkel's governing party, the CDU, created a stir in Germany in 2019, and was viewed over 18 million times. YouTube said it was the most-viewed video in Germany that year. This shows how relevant YouTubers like Rezo have become. In addition to political videos, Rezo also makes regular entertainment videos.
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Marie Nasemann
She is one of the most popular influencers who focus on sustainability. Marie Nasemann writes about sustainable fashion in her blog "Fairknall." She is one of the "sense-fluencers" who use their reach to discuss what they consider meaningful, important topics like sustainability, feminism or vegan nutrition.
He praised his successor Lian as the company's future CEO, saying he had "strength in management, organization, and social engagement."
Increased pressure
Zhang's announcement comes at a time when Chinese regulators have stepped up fines on Chinese internet giants for anti-competitive practices.
In April, Chinese antitrust regulators slapped Alibaba Group with a record $2.8 billion fine (€2.3 billion) for abusing its dominant market position.
Alibaba Group is the world's largest e-commerce company. The fine was equivalent to 4% of the revenue the company generated in the calendar year of 2019.
Regulators are also preparing to fine gaming giant Tencent Holding with as much as $1.55 billion, according to Reuters news agency.
What will Zhang's next steps be?
ByteDance said Zhang would move to a "key strategy" position at the end of the year.
His announcement is one of the biggest management shake-ups since the founding of the company in 2012.
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ByteDance appointed its chief financial officer, Shouzi Chew, as the new chief executive officer of Tik Tok last month.
Is the US-ByteDance controversy over?
A temporary deal struck last year in September between ByteDance and US software company Oracle had allowed TikTok to continue operating in the United States.
Then-US President Donald Trump had taken aim at TikTok, accusing the app's US branch of gathering too much personal data from Americans. TikTok denied the accusations.
However, the South China Morning Post has reported that ByteDance may have lost interest in that deal since Trump has exited office. It is unclear whether his successor, President Joe Biden, will force the sale of TikTok's branch in the US.
