HONG KONG -- Zhang Yiming, one of the two co-founders of the global short-video sensation TikTok, told employees on Thursday that he will step down as chief executive at the app's parent company, ByteDance, by the end of this year and hand over the role to his university classmate Liang Rubo, the other co-founder.
The 38-year-old software engineer by training said he will take up a new role, focusing on long-term strategy, corporate culture and social responsibility.