ByteDance

ByteDance is a technology company that owns and operates machine learning content platforms that allow users to connect in communities, create and share contents. The mission of the company is "Inspire Creativity, Enrich life".

Zhang Yiming founded ByteDance on March 9, 2012 in Beijing, China. Its flagship product is Toutiao, an artificial intelligence powered platform delivering personalized content recommendations for its users. It also operates a series of products for mobile users including Topbuzz, Flipagram and other user-generated content short-form video applications.

ByteDance acquired musical.ly, a global video community that celebrates creativity through the combination of short videos and music. In August 2018, ByteDance merged musical.ly into their product, TikTok, which initially launched in May 2017, to provide a unified user experience between both platforms. Other social media applications they operate include Helo, Douyin, BaBe, Huoshan Video and Lark.

Timeline

April 14, 2021

ByteDance gaming unit Nuverse acquires C4games, as it seeks to further expand into the video games business.

August 2020

ByteDance launches Toutiao Search for the Chinese market to take on Baidu.

January 3, 2020

ByteDance and TikTok have built a deepfakes maker.

July 29, 2019

ByteDance announces it will begin making smartphones

2019

ByteDance sets up Nuverse.

November 1, 2017

ByteDance raises a $257,000,000 series D round from QiMing Venture Partners.

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Arthur Dantchik

Director of the Board

Neil Shen

Director of the Board

Philippe Laffont

Director of the Board

William Ford

Director of the Board

Zhang Yiming

Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board

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ByteDance revenues more than double on back of TikTok boom

Mark Sweney

June 18, 2021

the Guardian

Owner of video-sharing app also reports a 93% increase in gross profit to $19bn in 2020

TikTok owner ByteDance sees its earnings double in 2020

BBC News

June 18, 2021

BBC News

China's biggest technology companies have been coming under increasing scrutiny both at home and abroad.

TikTok owner ByteDance's annual revenue jumps to $34.3 billion

June 17, 2021

mint

ByteDance's gross profit rose 93% to $19 billion last year, according to a memo to staff

Here's why ByteDance rages against Tencent over link blocking· TechNode

Wei Sheng

June 8, 2021

TechNode

The high-profile complaint from ByteDance came as Chinese regulators crack down on tech companies' anti-competitive behavior.

LiveXLive appears to receive cease and desist from TikTok for boxing event

Steven Perlberg and Dan Whateley

June 2, 2021

Business Insider

The email describes the 'Social Gloves' boxing event as 'Covid unsafe and violent in nature.'

Chinese parents buying lamp with AI and surveillance cameras for kids

Katie Warren

June 1, 2021

Business Insider

The lamp is made by TikTok owner ByteDance, which is venturing into the $40 billion online learning market in China.

This Week in Apps: Poparazzi hype, Instagram drops Likes, Epic trial adjourns

Sarah Perez

May 29, 2021

TechCrunch

Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also spent 3.5 trillion minutes using apps on Android devices [...]

China Tech Investor: The past, present, and future of Bytedance, with Zheping Huang (plus Kuaishou earnings) · TechNode

Chris Udemans

May 28, 2021

TechNode

James, Elliott, and Bloomberg's Zheping Huang discuss what the future has in store for Bytedance now that their founder Zhang Yiming is no longer CEO.

TikTok owner ByteDance launches share buyback after shelving IPO plans: Report

May 27, 2021

mint

Last week, company founder Zhang Yiming unexpectedly announced that he will step down as CEO, a move that comes as Chinese regulators are increasing scrutiny of the country's biggest technology firms.

ByteDance's video editor CapCut is the latest to top the U.S. App Store

Rita Liao

May 24, 2021

TechCrunch

From time to time, we see a Chinese app climbing to the top of Google Play and App Store in a host of Western countries. It might be a utility tool like a selfie beautifier or some casual video game, which has universal appeal and require little localization effort. But most of them tend to [...]

Bytedance boss exits at time of uncertainty for Chinese tech firms

Vincent Ni China affairs correspondent

May 21, 2021

the Guardian

Analysis: political undercurrents cannot be ignored as Zhang Yiming stands down to 'daydream'

ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming's memo is a master class in stepping down

Emma Serlin, Prof Stéphane J.G. Girod and Helen Jamieson

May 21, 2021

Business Insider

Zhang Yiming wrote an unusually candid memo on why he was leaving his role as CEO of TikTok's parent firm to focus on longer-term initiatives.

China says ByteDance, Baidu, Microsoft improperly collected user data

Reuters

May 21, 2021

@bsindia

Chinas internet watchdog said on Friday that companies including ByteDance, Baidu and Kuaishou had improperly collected user data.

Bytedance CEO stands aside to do more 'daydreaming' about the future

Agence France-Presse

May 20, 2021

the Guardian

Zhang Yiming will change role after saying he lacks the right skills to manage and prefers 'reading and daydreaming'

TikTok parent's founder is latest China tech boss to step down

May 20, 2021

mint

ByteDance's Zhang Yiming hands the reins to co-founder, saying he wants to focus on innovation

'I'm not very social': ByteDance founder to hand CEO reins to college roommate

Reuters

May 20, 2021

CTVNews

Zhang Yiming announced he will step down as CEO of TikTok-owner ByteDance, saying he lacked the social skills to be an ideal manager and naming his college roommate Liang Rubo as his successor to navigate a rising tide of Big Tech regulations.

Read the full resignation letter by ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming

Shona Ghosh

May 20, 2021

Business Insider

Zhang Yiming insisted he was stepping away to focus on more "long-term strategies" at the company. His cofounder, Liang Rubo, will take over as CEO.

ByteDance: TikTok's co-founder to step down as chief executive

BBC News

May 20, 2021

BBC News

The hugely popular short-video app was regularly criticised by former President Donald Trump.

The young CEO who helped make TikTok a global hit is the latest Chinese tech entrepreneur to quit

Laura He, CNN Business

May 20, 2021

CNN

Zhang Yiming built ByteDance into one of the biggest names in Chinese tech. Now he's stepping down as CEO at just 38 years old, becoming the latest young tech entrepreneur in China to quit while leading a company on the rise.

ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming to step down as CEO

Reuters

May 20, 2021

The Hindu

Zhang wrote in the memo that he concluded after several months of deliberation that he would have a greater impact on ByteDance's longer-term initiatives if he transitioned out of the CEO role.

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