6 Min Read SINGAPORE/BEIJING (Reuters) - Zhang Yiming will step down as chief executive of TikTok-owner ByteDance, handing over to college roommate, long-time colleague and current human resources head Liang Rubo. FILE PHOTO: Zhang Yiming, founder and global CEO of ByteDance, poses in Palo Alto, California, U.S., March 4, 2020. Picture taken March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton Zhang, 38, turned ByteDance into a social media powerhouse which has also had many brushes with global regulators. This is a timeline of key events in the emergence of ByteDance and TikTok. 2012 - Zhang Yiming founds ByteDance in Beijing. 2016 - Launches Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.