WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Zhang Yiming, board chairman and the co-founder of Tiktok's parent company ByteDance, has stepped down from his post on the onset of increasing government control over the tech universe in China.
According to reports, Zhang had been planning to retire from the role as it requires a lot of leadership and he considers himself to be an introvert who is not equipped to handle managerial roles. Instead, he is looking to work on some pending initiatives. The 38-year-old will be replaced by his former dorm-mate and the other co-founder of the company, Liang Rubo.
Zhang had a 50% voting right in the company and was the chairman of the five-person board. Wednesday, the company website which previously had Zhang listed as the Chairperson of the board, had relinquished the role and Zhang had just his picture on the site with no details.
Zhang had explained in May that he was stepping down from the role but he did not specify the date and time. The company, like many other tech giants in the country, was under immense government pressure for the amount of money it has acquired.
The company was recently valued at $140 billion in fundraising last year. It is also one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, one of the primary rivals of Instagram.
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