Who Is ByteDance’s Next Leader? Inside Liang Rubo’s Rise and Management Philosophy

In 2001, Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo first met as roommates at Nankai University, forming a friendship that would later shape ByteDance’s leadership. After a stolen computer case forced them to share a PC, they began collaborating on programming, with Liang focusing on coding and Zhang on information gathering.

After graduation, Liang pursued a career in micro‑electronics while Zhang launched early ventures, eventually co‑founding the real‑estate search engine “99fang.” Liang joined as a co‑founder, and their partnership helped the startup succeed.

When Zhang decided to create ByteDance in 2012, Liang became one of the earliest team members, later taking on roles such as product development lead, head of Feishu and efficiency engineering, and head of HR and management. He is noted as the only senior executive who understands both technology and human‑resource operations while also being a founding employee.

ByteDance’s rapid growth brought complex challenges: managing a massive international organization, balancing efficiency with scale, and avoiding bureaucratic rigidity. Liang has been involved in handling product controversies, legal and security issues, and overseeing dozens of affiliated companies.

In public talks, Liang outlined five management principles: building consensus through culture, implementing basic management mechanisms for efficiency, ensuring managers take responsibility, using data transparency for feedback, and supporting these with robust tools.

Although Zhang Yiming has stepped down, the baton has not fully transferred to Liang, and the future of ByteDance under his leadership remains to be seen.

Reference: China Economic Net, 2021‑05‑24; Sina Finance; other cited articles.