Co-founder of ByteDance Zhang Yiming tops the chart of China’s richest individuals following his estimated net worth hitting $54 billion, says the latest report from Hurun Research Institute. Net worth had jumped 43% during 2024, which mainly came through a 60% profit growth for ByteDance, despite its being subjected to major regulatory and geopolitical challenges. Although Zhang stepped aside from day-to-day involvement with ByteDance in 2021, he controls some 20% of the company and therefore experiences parallel growth of his fortune linked to the global success of TikTok
TikTok is one of the world’s most popular social media applications. Despite controversy, which continues to surround it – especially here in the United States – the app has seen unprecedented growth. Its close ties to China have been a source of concern there. It mandated a Jan 2025 deadline for ByteDance to divest its holdings either way, but the fact that ByteDance becomes increasingly profitable adds to the wealth of Zhang, placing him as the 18th on the list of “Number Ones” on the Hurun China Rich List within the two and six decades after being far removed from lists that consist of the wealthiest individual in the United States.
This rich list, which remains somewhat dominated by the top slots of Chinese tech giants in the likes of Zhang Fang Feng, who still headed the list with net assets of $60.1 billion, alongside others at the top such as Tencent Technologies’ Pony Ma, remained surprisingly unchanged, despite slower than expected economic and stock markets at home in China over this past year. Yet challenges in sectors such as that of green energy mean these fortunes have been far less rosy for many among the solar and electric-vehicle makers.