Zhang Yi Ming (Truong Nhat Minh), the billionaire founder of ByteDance – the parent company of TikTok – asked the village in his hometown of China to remove the stone stele calling him an idol.
Images of the stone stele honoring Zhang Yi Ming began appearing on Chinese social media around the Lunar New Year, amid speculation that it had been removed. According to the image, the stele was erected at the end of 2022 after Zhang donated 2 million yuan to an ancient temple in a village in Fujian.
Zhang Yi Ming (wearing glasses) was called by one village “the spiritual idol of millions of young businessmen”.
Zhang has lived a private life since stepping down as Chairman of ByteDance – the technology company behind TikTok and Douyin – in November 2021. The news portal iFeng.cc reported that the stone stele had been removed. Meanwhile, technology news site Leiphone.com also said that Zhang personally asked the village to do that.
The two villagers said SCMP that they did not know about the existence of this stone stele.
According to the inscription on the stone stele in the viral photos, ByteDance is described as the first technology company to apply AI to mobile Internet and praises short video application Douyin for opening up the path to livestream sales. Founder Zhang is called “a rare example of success when combining scientific discovery with getting rich in China”, made him become “spiritual idol for billions of young entrepreneurs”.
The stone stele also revealed family details, including Zhang’s parents and grandfather.
Zhang stepped down from his position as CEO and Chairman of ByteDance, handing over the reins to Liang Rubo, his former college roommate. According to the news site The InformationZhang – the second richest person in China – spends most of his time abroad, mainly in Singapore, where TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew also lives.
Zhang has barely appeared in the press since May 2023, when a local education agency revealed he donated 200 million yuan to a study promotion fund in his hometown.
Many Chinese tech entrepreneurs have maintained a closed lifestyle in recent years as the industry has come under greater scrutiny from authorities. For example, Collin Huang – founder of e-commerce giant PDD Holdings – disappeared from public view after resigning as CEO in July 2020. Photos and information about Xu Yangtian – founder of fast fashion company Shein – are always scarce, even when Shein is said to be preparing for an IPO in the US.
