ByteDance Responds to Rumors of Spending Nearly 100 Million Yuan to Poach DeepSeek Core Employees: No Recent Hiring of Employees with Nearly 100 Million Yuan Annual Salary

Odaily News In response to rumors that ByteDance spent nearly 100 million yuan to poach former DeepSeek researcher Guo Daya, Li Liang, Vice President of Douyin, stated that the compensation system for all technical personnel recruited for ByteDance's Seed team is the same, including cash, ByteDance stock options, and Doubao stock options. The options vest over a four-year period, and there is no so-called "requirement to meet certain conditions to receive the full amount." Furthermore, there has been no recent hiring of employees with an annual salary close to 100 million yuan. The future returns from ByteDance and Doubao options for Seed employees fluctuate based on the option price. If the business develops very well, it is possible that some Seed technical personnel could achieve returns of several hundred million yuan after four years. (Yicai)