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TikTok parent ByteDance’s billionaire founder Zhang Yiming sets up investment fund in Hong Kong

  • Cool River Venture, incorporated on Monday, will invest mostly in technology-related industries, according to sources
  • Zhang in 2021 stepped down as CEO and chairman of ByteDance, which is battling growing political headwinds in the US

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Zhang Yiming, founder and former CEO of ByteDance, poses for a photo in Beijing in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
Xinmei Shen
Zhang Yiming, the billionaire founder of TikTok’s parent ByteDance, has set up a private investment fund in Hong Kong, as he continues to stay out of the spotlight since relinquishing his corporate roles two years ago.
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The personal fund, named Cool River Venture, will primarily invest in technology-related industries, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be named because the matter is private.

The vehicle was incorporated on May 22, the Hong Kong government’s companies registry showed.

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The new venture offers a rare glimpse into what Zhang has been up to since he stepped down as CEO and chairman of Beijing-based ByteDance, the world’s most valuable unicorn.

The 40-year-old Chinese entrepreneur spent most of last year overseas, based mostly out of Singapore, technology news outlet The Information reported in September. TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi is also based in the Southeast Asian country.

Few people know of Zhang’s whereabouts and itinerary on any given day.

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This month, the education bureau of Zhang’s home city of Longyan in southeast China’s Fujian province announced that he donated 200 million yuan (US$28.9 million) to an education fund he created with 500 million yuan in 2021.

The government statement used an old picture of Zhang dated two years ago.

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