ByteDance’s Chairman Steps Down in the Shadow of China’s Tech Crackdown

Almost six months after deciding that he would step down as ByteDance’s CEO, Yiming Zhang, has now revealed he will no longer serve as the Chinese tech giant’s Chairman.

Liang Rubo, who took over as CEO earlier this year, will also take up the role as Chairman.

Zhang will apparently stay on with the company in some capacity, but focus more on long-term strategy, according to Reuters. However, there are no clear details about his exact new role.

The sudden news coincides with an announcement that the company’s CFO Shou Zi Chew would also leave her post and that the company would split into six business units; social apps TikTok and Douyin, work collaboration subsidiary Lark, business services subsidiary BytePlus, gaming subsidiary Nuverse, and education tech subsidiary Dali Education.

News of the duo’s departure from their leadership roles at ByteDance closely follows similar changes at some of China’s biggest tech firms.

Just last week, TikTok and Douyin alternative Kuaishou announced that its Co-Founder and CEO Su Hua had stepped down but would stay Chairman of the company’s board. While in September, JD.com’s CEO revealed he would step back from his day-to-day duties to focus on long-term strategy, and in March Pinduoduo's founder resigned his role as Chairman.

The news of the most recent wave of departures comes in the wake of China’s recently passed Personal Information Protection Law and announced plans to strengthen its Anti-Monopoly Law to curb the power and influence of major tech companies.

Yiming Zhang's decision to step onto the sidelines at his own company could be related to China's tech crackdown. His previous decision to step down as CEO earlier this year came just after the Chinese government placed ByteDance on a list of companies that allegedly engaged in improper collection and use of data.