Founder of ByteDance. He resigned as chief executive and then chairman in 2021 amid a campaign by Chinese authorities to rein in tech moguls. Insiders say the government is still not at ease with the company's influence. Mr Zhang was notably absent from a high-profile 2025 meeting between President Xi Jinping and a group of Chinese entrepreneurs that was widely viewed as signalling a thaw in relations with the tech industry—even as Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder, was present.
Politics are almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous. In war, you can only be killed once.