By
staff writer
April 17th, 2024
Liang Rubo, another co-founder, who is now the head of human resources, will take over as CEO of ByteDance globally.
A statement emanating from ByteDance has revealed that the firm is set to undergo some changes in leadership positions across the firm. According to the statement, the change of role would be happening between CEO and co-founder Zhang Yiming and another ByteDance co-founder Liang Rubo. It was revealed that Yiming would be stepping away from his role as ByteDance CEO while Rubo would be taking over this new position.
This development is happening due to the need for a better hand to handle the managerial role, which Zhang affirms he lacks in a statement. He described the change as an essential tool to better drive progress.
“There are still many things that we need to improve, and I think someone else can better drive progress through areas like improved daily management. The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager,” Zhang said in a note to employees.
The soon-to-be erstwhile CEO added that “I’m more interested in analyzing organizational and market principles and leveraging these theories to reduce further management work, rather than actually managing people. Similarly, I’m not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and daydreaming about what may be possible.”
The statement further showed that Zhang would be taking up a new strategic undisclosed role in the firm. However, pending when this is done, he and Rubo will be working hand in hand for the next six months to achieve the smoothest change in guard.
It is noteworthy that in the past months, ByteDance, has had management changes. In August 2020, the firm’s CEO, Kevin Mayas, had to quit office due to the increased pressure on the firm as the US government under President Trump “dubbed it a national security threat.” Vanessa Pappas took over the role on an interim basis.
In this year too, there have also been different changes at the top of the firm. In March, Chew Shou Zi was approached to lead the ByteDance financial office. Two months ago, Vanessa Pappas was relieved and replaced by Chew.
Like it was stated earlier, the firm had faced a growing level of hostility from the previous US government. This had almost forced ByteDance to sell off its company to Microsoft or Oracle who were involved in a bidding war. However, the viral video company continued to expand under Zhang, amidst its battle with the US government.