ByteDance founder sets up private HK investment fund
Low-profile billionaire Zhang Yiming’s Cool River Venture said to focus on tech industries
Zhang Yiming, the billionaire founder of TikTok’s parent ByteDance, has set up a private investment fund in Hong Kong, as he continues to stay out of the spotlight since relinquishing his corporate roles two years ago.
The personal fund, named Cool River Venture, will primarily invest in technology-related industries, according to people familiar with the matter who declined to be named.
The vehicle was incorporated on Monday, the government’s Companies Registry showed.
The new venture offers a rare glimpse into what Zhang has been up to since he stepped down as chief executive and chairman of Beijing-based ByteDance.
The 40-year-old Chinese entrepreneur spent most of last year in Singapore, technology news outlet The Information reported in September. TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi is also based there.
Few people know of Zhang’s whereabouts and itinerary on any given day.
This month, the education bureau of Zhang’s home city of Longyan in Fujian province announced that he donated 200 million yuan (HK$222 million) to an education fund he created with 500 million yuan in 2021.
The government statement used a picture of Zhang dated two years ago.
Zhang has a net worth of US$42.3 billion, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows.
ByteDance, helmed by co-founder and Zhang’s university roommate Liang Rubo, still sees robust growth while battling political pressure in the West.
The company’s revenue reportedly jumped more than 30 per cent to surpass US$80 billion in 2022 on the back of strong advertising performance in China, putting the firm on par with rival Tencent Holdings, which raked in about US$80 billion last year.
ByteDance’s flagship product TikTok, however, faces increasing political troubles in the United States, where it has more than 100 million users.
In April, Montana became the first US state to pass legislation that would make it illegal to offer TikTok for download, to protect the personal data of citizens from “being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party”.
Chew has called the move “unconstitutional”. The company on Monday filed a lawsuit against the ban.
The Biden administration in February asked all US federal agencies to remove the app from government devices over data privacy concerns. More than 30 state governments have taken similar measures.
The uncertainties have led to declining valuations of ByteDance, which has put plans for a public listing on the back burner.
In March, an investment by Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence firm G42 valued ByteDance at about US$220 billion, according to a Bloomberg News report, down from a peak valuation of US$400 billion in 2021.