Zhang Yiming facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Zhang Yiming
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| 张一鸣 | |||||||||
Zhang in 2021
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| Born | 1 April 1983 Fujian, China
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| Nationality | China | ||||||||
| Education | Nankai University (BEng) | ||||||||
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| Years active | 2006–present | ||||||||
| Known for | Founding and leading ByteDance, creating Douyin/TikTok | ||||||||
| Title | Founder & Chairman of ByteDance | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 张一鸣 | ||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 張一鳴 | ||||||||
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Zhang Yiming (Chinese: 张一鸣; born 1 April 1983) is a Chinese entrepreneur who works with the internet. He is famous for starting ByteDance in 2012. This company created the popular news app Toutiao and the video app Douyin, which you might know as TikTok.
Zhang Yiming is one of the richest people in the world. In October 2024, his wealth was estimated to be around US$45.6 billion by Forbes. In November 2021, Zhang stepped down as the CEO of ByteDance. However, he still has a lot of say in the company's decisions. Thanks to TikTok's huge popularity around the world, Zhang became the richest person in China in 2024.
Contents
Early Life and First Jobs
Zhang Yiming was born on April 1, 1983, in Longyan, a city in Fujian, China. His parents worked for the government, and he was their only child.
University Studies
In 2001, Zhang went to Nankai University in Tianjin. He studied micro electronics engineering and software engineering. In 2005, he earned his degree in computer engineering. He also met his wife while at university.
Starting His Career
In February 2006, Zhang became the fifth person to join Kuxun, a website about travel. He was the first engineer there. Just one year later, he was promoted to be the technical director.
In 2008, Zhang left Kuxun to work at Microsoft. But he found the company's rules too strict. He soon left Microsoft to join a new company called Fanfou, which later closed down.
First Company
In 2009, Zhang started his very first company, 99fang.com. He took over the real estate search part of Kuxun when another company, Expedia, was buying Kuxun. He worked on this business for three years before leaving it.
Creating ByteDance
In 2012, Zhang Yiming noticed that people in China using smartphones had trouble finding information. He also saw that the big search company Baidu was mixing ads with its search results without telling users.
A New Idea
Zhang had a new idea: he wanted to create a way to show users content that they would like, using smart computer programs called artificial intelligence. Many investors didn't believe in his idea at first. But then, a company called Susquehanna International Group decided to invest in his new company.
Launching Toutiao
In August 2012, ByteDance launched its first app, Toutiao. This app gathered news and showed it to users. In just two years, Toutiao had more than 13 million users every day! Another big investment company, Sequoia Capital, which had said no to Zhang before, then invested US$100 million in ByteDance in 2014.
Global Vision
Zhang wanted ByteDance to grow all over the world. This was different from many other Chinese tech leaders who focused only on their home country. For example, he wanted ByteDance's work app, Lark, to be used in America, Europe, and Japan, not just China. Zhang also managed ByteDance like big US tech companies such as Google. He held meetings every two months and didn't want employees to call him "boss" or "CEO," which is common in China.
The Rise of TikTok
In September 2015, ByteDance launched its video-sharing app, TikTok. In China, it's known as Douyin. The app quickly became very popular with young people and spread worldwide. A year later, ByteDance bought another app called Musical.ly for US$800 million and added its features into TikTok.
Challenges and Growth
In 2018, a Chinese government agency closed down ByteDance's first app, Neihan Duanzi. Zhang apologized and promised that ByteDance would work closely with the government to support its policies.
By late 2018, ByteDance's apps had more than a billion users each month. The company was valued at US$75 billion, making it more valuable than Uber at the time.
In May 2021, Zhang announced that he would step down as CEO. Liang Rubo took over his role.
Awards and Recognition
Zhang Yiming has received several honors for his work:
- In 2013, Forbes magazine included him in its "China 30 Under 30" list.
- In 2018, Fortune magazine put him on its "40 Under 40" list.
- In 2019, Time magazine named him one of the "100 Most Influential People."
See also
In Spanish: Zhang Yiming para niños
- Lawsuits involving TikTok
