ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has stepped down as chairman of the TikTok proprietor, after saying in May he would step down as CEO, an individual with direct data of the matter informed Reuters, within the newest shake up on the tech big.

New CEO Liang Rubo has taken over as chairman of the corporate’s five-person board, which additionally contains General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management, and Susquehanna International Group, the particular person mentioned, including that the choice was made this 12 months.

It was not instantly clear when Zhang relinquished the chairman title and whether or not there have been any modifications to his greater than 50 % voting rights on the firm.

ByteDance mentioned in May that Zhang would transfer to a “key strategy” place on the finish of the 12 months. The particular person mentioned that plan was unchanged. ByteDance didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Zhang ‘s shock announcement in May noticed his faculty roommate and co-founder Liang take the lead in navigating the corporate by way of a rising wave of latest rules concentrating on Big Tech.

The transfer comes after the corporate on Tuesday introduced a significant organisational reshuffle at ByteDance to create six enterprise models. It additionally mentioned that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew would step down as its mother or father ByteDance’s chief monetary officer (CFO) to give attention to operating the quick video platform full time.

Quite a few founders at a few of China’s most well-known tech firms have in latest months given up overseeing day by day operations amid a wide-ranging clampdown by Chinese regulators on giant swathes of the financial system.

Last week, short-video apps proprietor Kuaishou mentioned its co-founder, Su Hua, had stepped down as CEO.

E-commerce firm Pinduoduo founder Huang Zheng stepped down as chairman this 12 months, having earlier relinquished his CEO title. Alibaba founder Jack Ma retired as chairman of the e-commerce big in 2019.

© Thomson Reuters 2021