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TikTok owner ByteDance’s China head debuts on Fortune’s list of most powerful women in business
- ByteDance’s Kelly Zhang debuts at 45th place this year on Fortune magazine’s list of women leading the global corporate world from outside the US
- The list of 50 also includes Chinese tech veterans such as Ping An’s Jessica Tan, Gree’s Dong Mingzhu and Alibaba’s Maggie Wu
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As TikTok gains prominence globally, the leaders of its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance are also attracting more attention.
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ByteDance China CEO Kelly Zhang, for instance, has appeared on Fortune magazine’s international list of the 50 most powerful women in business for the first time this year.
Zhang, who joined ByteDance in 2014 and was promoted to head the company’s China business in March this year, was ranked 45th on the annual list which highlights the most powerful women in business based outside the United States.
In her current role, she oversees ByteDance’s star product line-up including TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin, which she was also previously in charge of, as well as domestically viral news aggregator Toutiao and its sister search engine Toutiao Search.
Born in the 1980s according to local media reports, Zhang is one of the youngest names on the list – especially among those from the Chinese tech industry, who are mostly veterans.
Among the China-based executives, Ping An Group co-CEO Jessica Tan leads the pack at second place, after debuting on the list at fourth place last year.
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