The billionaire spent much of 2022 overseas, using Singapore as a primary base, The Information reported at the time, fuelling speculation he had applied for foreign citizenship. TikTok included Zhang’s status in a section outlining influential figures at the company.
Like many of China’s corporate elite, several of ByteDance’s honchos have shown a predilection for the prosperous city state in past years.
Zhang’s 21 per cent slice of ByteDance is worth more than US$40 billion, based on the company’s US$268 billion valuation during a recent share buy-back programme. The filing also shows Zhang has held onto his shares over the past year, since TikTok’s CEO revealed his boss’s stake of around 20 per cent during a Congressional hearing.
The lawsuit affirms expectations that ByteDance doesn’t intend to find a buyer for TikTok as the deadline approaches. Instead, the Chinese firm wants the law declared unconstitutional, saying it violates the First Amendment.