
Kuaishou’s Su Hua to step down as CEO, following moves by ByteDance and Pinduoduo founders amid China’s tech crackdown
- The 39-year-old Kuaishou Technology co-founder said he wants to focus on developing long-term strategy for the owner of China’s second-largest short video app
- Cheng Yixiao, who created the app in 2011, will take over as CEO, and Su will remain as chairman with voting rights unchanged
The 39-year-old entrepreneur said he is stepping aside to focus on developing the company’s long-term strategy. Taking over as CEO is long-time collaborator Cheng Yixiao, who created Kuaishou a decade ago as a tool to create and share animated pictures.

Cheng, 37, will report to Su, who continues to serve as the chairman of the company, according to a company statement on Friday. The weighted voting rights for both Su and Cheng remain unchanged.
After the reshuffle, Su will concentrate on strategy planning and new initiatives, according to the statement, and Cheng will be responsible for company operations.
Huang announced in March that, at the age of 41, that he was stepping down as chairman of his Shanghai-based e-commerce firm. He had a net worth of US$46.8 billion at the time, according to Forbes.
Zhang made his announcement in May, saying he would step down as CEO sometime this year to “be more impactful on longer-term initiatives”.
NBA signs up Kuaishou as video-content partner to move on from PR debacle
Kuaishou’s pivot to short video brought enormous success and wealth to its founders. Su is now worth an estimated US$6.4 billion, according to Forbes, while Cheng is worth US$5.1 billion.
However, the management reshuffle comes amid a steep market decline for Chinese tech companies, as regulators have turned up the pressure on the country’s internet giants this year through a range of new requirements and restrictions.
In February, Kuaishou made a bigger-than-expected splash when it debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange, with shares reaching a high of HK$345 (US$54), more than double its offer price. Increased volatility in recent months has since dragged down Kuaishou’s share price, which hit a low of HK$64.5 in August.
The company’s shares have since rebounded slightly, but fell 0.3 per cent on Friday to close at HK$103.5.
