Zhang Yiming built ByteDance Ltd. into the world¡¯s most valuable private company via a string of blockbuster apps like TikTok that challenged Facebook and other incumbents on their own turf. His latest target: Alibaba.
The 38-year-old AI coding genius, searching for ByteDance¡¯s next big act, has set his sights on China¡¯s $1.7 trillion e-commerce arena. The co-founder has hired thousands of staff and roped in big-name sponsors like Xiaomi Corp. impresario Lei Jun to drive what he calls his next ¡°major breakthrough¡± into global business ¡ª selling stuff to consumers via its addictive short videos and livestreams. That endeavor will test not just Zhang¡¯s magic touch with app creation and ByteDance¡¯s AI wizardry, but also investor reception ahead of one of the tech world¡¯s most hotly anticipated IPOs.
His startup is already starting to make waves in an industry long controlled by Jack Ma¡¯s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. It sold about $26 billion worth of make-up, clothing and other merchandise in 2020, achieving in its maiden year what Alibaba¡¯s Taobao took six years to accomplish. It¡¯s shooting for more than $185 billion by 2022. Douyin, TikTok¡¯s Chinese twin, is expected to contribute more than half of the firm¡¯s $40 billion domestic ad sales this year, driven in part by e-commerce.
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