See Why TikTok Boss ‘Zhang Yiming’ Worth $44bn Resigns. One of the billionaire co-founders of TikTok is stepping down as CEO of ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok.

Zhang Yiming, 38, said Thursday, May 20, that he will leave the role because he lacks managerial skills. He added that he preferred “reading and daydreaming” to running the tech giant.

According to Bloomberg, he resigns with a net worth of $44.5billion, making him 31st on a list of the world’s richest people.

On Monday, May 24, Zhang announced his resignation in an official letter to his employees. he reiterated that he lacked some skills that’d make him an ideal manager.

“The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. Similarly, I’m not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and daydreaming about what may be possible,” he said.

Zhang Yiming will step down at the end of the year to focus on long-term strategy.

Zhang Yiming is a Chinese billionaire internet entrepreneur. He founded ByteDance in 2012 and developed the news aggregator Toutiao and the video sharing platform TikTok , formerly known as Musical.ly.

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index Zhang’s personal wealth is estimated at $45.5 billion. 

On May 20, 2021, Zhang Yiming announced he would be stepping down as CEO of ByteDance by end of the year due to lack of necessary managerial skills.

In September 2015, ByteDance launched its video sharing app TikTok (known as Douyin in China) with little fanfare.

The product was an instant hit with millennials and became popular worldwide.

ByteDance bought Musical.ly a year later for US$800 million and integrated it into TikTok.

ByteDance’s first app, Neihan Duanzi, was shut down in 2018 by the National Radio and Television Administration.

In response, Zhang issued an apology stating that the app was “incommensurate with socialist core values”, that it had a “weak” implementation ofXi Jinping thought, and promised that ByteDance would “further deepen cooperation” with the rulingChinese Communist Party to better promote its policies.

As of late 2018, with more than 1 billion monthly users across its mobile apps, ByteDance is valued at US$75 billion, surpassing Uber to become the most valuable startup in the world. 

Zhang’s personal wealth is estimated at $22.6 billion, making him the 9th richest person in China.

In September 2020, the the united state department of justice referred to Zhang as a “mouthpiece” of the Chinese Communist Party in a legal filing.

In May 2021, he said that he will step down as CEO and will be succeeded by Rubo Liang.

See Why TikTok Boss ‘Zhang Yiming’ Worth $44bn Resigns