Zhang Yiming

Zhang Yiming, founder and former CEO of ByteDance, is the architect behind the first Chinese internet company to achieve genuine global dominance in consumer social media with TikTok. A brilliant product thinker and algorithm expert, Zhang built ByteDance's core innovation: a hyper-engaging, AI-powered content recommendation engine that powers both Douyin (in China) and TikTok. Under his leadership, ByteDance challenged and surpassed Western social media giants on their home turf, fundamentally changing content creation, discovery, and the music industry. While he stepped down as CEO in 2021 to focus on long-term strategy, his influence is indelible. He created a new model for social media not based on social graphs but on algorithmic feeds of infinite entertainment, forcing Meta, YouTube, and others to radically redesign their products. His success represents the rise of Chinese tech innovation on the global stage and sits at the center of complex US-China geopolitical tensions.