TikTok founder becomes China's richest, but country's billionaires count declines
Zhang Yiming, the 41-year-old co-founder of TikTok's parent company ByteDance, has been named China's richest person. Zhang's net worth has skyrocketed to an astonishing $49.3 billion, according to the 2024 Hurun China Rich List published yesterday. This financial achievement makes him the 18th person to have held the title since the first Hurun China Rich List was published 26 years ago.
ByteDance's revenue growth fuels Zhang's wealth
Zhang's ascent to the top of China's rich list can be largely credited to a massive jump in ByteDance's global revenue. The company witnessed a 30% jump in its earnings last year, reaching $110 billion according to Hurun. Since its launch in May 2017, TikTok has taken the world by storm and emerged as a leading social media platform, especially among the youth.
TikTok faces legal challenges in the US
Despite its success, TikTok is currently battling a number of legal issues in the US, where it has nearly 200 million users. The platform is facing state and federal lawsuits over alleged failure to protect children using the app. ByteDance and TikTok are also fighting a law that could potentially ban the app nationwide if it doesn't separate its US operations.
Zhang's journey and ByteDance's portfolio
Zhang, who holds a 20% stake in ByteDance, co-founded the company with his college roommate Liang Rubo in Beijing in 2012. He stepped down as CEO in 2021 after turning ByteDance into a giant in China's tech industry. Apart from TikTok, ByteDance also owns Toutiao, a popular news app in China, and Douyin - TikTok's Chinese counterpart.
Shifts in China's billionaire landscape
Zhang's rise has dethroned China's "bottled water king" Zhong Shanshan, who had been at the top for three years. Zhong's wealth fell 24% to $47.9 billion this year. The third spot is occupied by Tencent founder Pony Ma—the company behind China's popular messaging and payments platform WeChat. Notably, China's total number of billionaires has fallen to 753, down by 142 from last year. China has also lost over one-third of its billionaires since its 2021 peak of 1,185.
