TikTok was created by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, which was founded by entrepreneur Zhang Yiming.

Key details

• TikTok began as a short‑video app called Douyin, launched by ByteDance in China in 2016 before being released internationally as TikTok in 2017.

• Zhang Yiming is the founder of ByteDance, the company that developed Douyin/TikTok and grew it into the global platform known today.