In response to reports alleging that Guo Daya, a former post-95s researcher at DeepSeek, had joined ByteDance with an annual salary nearing ¥100 million, Li Liang, Vice President of Douyin Group, issued a statement on the evening of April 16th to refute these claims as false.

He clarified that ByteDance’s compensation structure for all technical staff within its Seed team remains consistent, encompassing cash salaries, Byte options, and Doubao options. All options are subject to a four-year vesting period, with no requirement to meet specific conditions for full vesting.

Li Liang emphasized that ByteDance has not recently recruited any employee with an annual salary approaching ¥100 million. However, he also noted that, contingent on strong business performance, it is plausible for certain Seed team technical personnel to achieve returns in the hundreds of millions of yuan after the four-year vesting period.