TikTok Started With a Tech Guy From China Who Decoded America’s Teens

Foundering, a podcast from Bloomberg Technology, tells the story of TikTok.

Alex Zhu
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Shelly Banjo and Shawn Wen

April 22, 2021 at 4:01 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

TikTok has emerged as the defining app of a generation: a cultural tastemaker, a musical hitmaker and a launchpad for a new breed of celebrity. Its hold on American culture can be traced back to Alex Zhu, a technology entrepreneur from China.