Zhang Yiming said he's not social enough for the role and said he's handing the reins to the company's head of human resources, who was also his college roommate.
The 38-year-old will be succeeded by Liang, a long-time colleague and the current head of human resources at ByteDance, one of the world's biggest private tech companies with an estimated value of about $300 billion in recent trades. "I'm more interested in analyzing organizational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people," Zhang, who will remain in his role as chairman, wrote in the memo.
"If these problems cannot be resolved, it's highly possible that the company will encounter major setbacks in the future. I think Zhang's choice is wise and necessary, no matter whether his decision is made actively or passively." "Based on previous experience it's likely we could see a slowdown of investment in new businesses, while they could pay more attention to old businesses as the new management team needs some time for adjustment," said Shawn Yang, managing director of Blue Lotus Capital Advisors.
was he not enough of a narcissist or not enough of a sociopath?
Congruence of an honest person.