Zhang Yiming, the tech visionary behind ByteDance Ltd., has officially become China’s richest individual, surpassing bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan and Tencent Holdings co-founder Ma Huateng with an estimated net worth of $57.5 billion, according to the latest data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Zhang’s ascent to the top of China’s wealth rankings represents a pivotal moment for the country’s tech sector as ByteDance—the parent company of TikTok and Douyin—continues to consolidate its position as a global digital powerhouse.
The 41-year-old entrepreneur’s wealth surged by more than $10 billion following updated valuations from institutional investors including BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, and T. Rowe Price.
These estimates, combined with ByteDance’s plans to repurchase employee stock at a valuation of approximately $312 billion, brought the company’s average valuation to $365 billion, fueling Zhang’s rise in the global billionaire rankings.
Zhang now ranks as the third-richest person in Asia, trailing only India’s Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.
ByteDance’s valuation boom comes amid renewed investor interest in its expanding AI-driven product portfolio, including its popular AI chatbot Doubao, which currently boasts over 75 million active users.
The company’s advancements in AI architecture and its dominant market share in mobile video have reinforced its position at the forefront of China’s tech innovation.
Zhang’s journey to the summit of China’s business elite is a departure from the traditional manufacturing and real estate narratives that have historically shaped the country’s wealth landscape.
Starting ByteDance in a modest apartment in Beijing in 2012, Zhang envisioned a content platform driven by artificial intelligence rather than editorial control.
The launch of Toutiao, followed by the global success of TikTok, propelled the company into international prominence.
His leadership turned ByteDance into a multi-platform ecosystem reaching over 1 billion users worldwide, positioning it as a formidable competitor to Western tech giants.
The company’s acquisition of Musical.ly in 2018 for $800 million, which was later integrated into TikTok, was a strategic masterstroke that cemented its global appeal.
Despite regulatory pressures and geopolitical scrutiny, particularly in the United States where TikTok faces potential divestiture, Zhang’s personal fortune has remained resilient.
The U.S. government has given ByteDance a deadline extension until April 5 to finalize a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations, with Oracle Corp. reportedly in discussions for a possible security-backed partnership.
Zhang stepped down as ByteDance’s CEO in 2021 and later relinquished his role as chairman, joining a growing list of Chinese tech founders who have retreated from public leadership amid regulatory shifts in the country.
Nonetheless, his 21% equity stake in ByteDance remains the cornerstone of his wealth.
Commenting on Zhang’s business model, Hao Gao, Director of the Research Center for Global Family Business at Tsinghua University, noted that Zhang represents a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs whose businesses are both innovation-led and globally integrated, a stark contrast to legacy industries that dominated previous billionaire lists.
With ByteDance continuing to expand into AI, gaming, and productivity tools, industry watchers expect Zhang’s influence—and fortune—to grow even further.
As China’s digital economy evolves, Zhang Yiming’s rise underscores a broader shift in global wealth creation, one increasingly driven by technology, data, and cross-border platforms.
