The meteoric rise of TikTok on the global stage has helped Zhang Yiming, co-founder of the app’s parent company, ByteDance, ascend to the pinnacle of wealth in China.
A recent report by the Hurun Research Institute places Zhang’s fortune at $49.3 billion (£38 billion), a staggering 43% jump from the previous year, making him China’s richest individual. Despite stepping down from ByteDance in 2021, the 41-year-old entrepreneur retains approximately a 20% stake in the company, which continues to thrive worldwide amid concerns over its connections to the Chinese government.
While both ByteDance and TikTok assert their independence from state control, international scrutiny has intensified. The United States has announced plans to ban TikTok in January 2025 unless ByteDance divests its ownership, a move aimed at addressing data security and privacy issues. Nonetheless, ByteDance’s profits surged by 60% last year, accentuating TikTok’s appeal and fueling Zhang’s expanding wealth despite mounting political pressures.
The Hurun report also underscores the contrasting fortunes within China’s tech sector. While Zhang topped the list, other tech moguls faced declines. Pony Ma, CEO of Tencent, holds the third spot with a personal wealth of £44.4 billion. The report shows that only around 30% of individuals on the rich list saw their net worth increase this year, with most others grappling with declines amid China’s economic slowdown.
The Hurun China Rich List has contracted for the third consecutive year, shrinking by 12% to slightly under 1,100 individuals—a 25% drop from its peak in 2021. Rupert Hoogewerf, head of Hurun, remarked on China’s economic challenges, noting the toll taken on various sectors as stock markets wavered and consumer confidence faltered.
Hoogewerf highlighted that, despite economic hurdles, Zhang is the 18th new “Number One” on China’s rich list in 26 years, a figure that dwarfs the stability of the United States, which has seen only four top wealth leaders—Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk—over the same period. This dynamism, Hoogewerf argues, reflects the pace and volatility within China’s economy.
Even as tech leaders like Zhang prosper, other sectors have struggled. While smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi saw gains, the green energy industry had a rough year. Solar panel, battery, and electric vehicle companies all saw their fortunes wane, with wealth in these sectors plunging up to 80% from the highs of 2021 as competition ramped up and tariffs loomed.
