TikTok Founder, Zhang Yiming Becomes China’s Richest Person

Zhang Yiming, the 41-year-old founder of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, is now China’s richest person.

According to the latest Hurun China Rich List, Zhang Yiming’s net worth has reached $49.3 billion, due to ByteDance’s 30% revenue increase last year, hitting $110 billion.

Since its launch in 2017, TikTok has skyrocketed in global popularity, attracting millions of young users worldwide and inspiring other Chinese tech firms aiming to enter Western markets.

However, it faces significant challenges in some countries including the United States where it has nearly 200 million users.

TikTok is involved in federal lawsuits over child protection concerns and risks a possible nationwide ban if ByteDance doesn’t spin off its U.S. operations, due to longstanding fears that user data might be accessed by the Chinese government.

TikTok denies these claims, which come amid heightened U.S.-China tensions.

While other countries like India have banned TikTok over security concerns, Western nations like Britain, Canada, and Australia have limited its use on government devices.

Zhang co-founded ByteDance with college friend Liang Rubo in 2012, and while he stepped down as CEO in 2021, he still owns a 20% stake.

Besides TikTok, ByteDance runs popular Chinese apps like Toutiao for news and Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese counterpart.

Zhang’s new status on the wealth list has displaced Zhong Shanshan, the “bottled water king,” who held the top position for three years.

Zhang Yiming, recently criticized by nationalists for alleged lack of patriotism, is now second.

Third place went to Pony Ma, founder of Tencent, the company behind WeChat, China’s widely-used messaging and payments platform.

Meanwhile, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, has seen his wealth more than double to $28 billion, following the launch of his oil refinery.