- TikTok’s founder is the richest man in China following a 43 per cent increase in his worth from 2023
- Zhang Yiming overtakes Zhong Shanshan on the list, a position he had held for three years
- Zhang co-founded TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, with his college roommate in 2012
The 41-year-old founder of TikTok and the co-founder of ByteDance, the app’s parent company, Zhang Yiming, has become China’s richest man.
Zhang is now worth $49.3 billion (£38 billion), a 43 per cent increase to his worth in 2023, according to a rich list produced by the Hurun Research Institute.
Hurun Report’s Chief Researcher, Rupert Hoogewerf, said, “Zhang Yiming is the 18th new Number One we have had in China in just 26 years.
“The US, by comparison, has only four Number Ones: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. This gives an indication of some of the dynamism in the Chinese economy.
“The Hurun China Rich List has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year.
“The number of individuals on the list was down by 12 per cent in the past year to just under 1100 individuals and 25 per cent from the high point of 2021.”
Race to the top in China
With his new worth, Zhang overtakes bottled water magnate, Zhong Shanshan, to become China’s richest person. Zhong had occupied the spot for three years.
Zhong’s fortune dropped by almost a quarter to $73 billion, following social media vitriol against his company, Nongfu Spring. This saw the beverage giant losing $6 billion in market capitalisation in March.
Also on the list representing China’s huge tech sector is Pony Ma, boss of the tech conglomerate, Tencent, owner of China’s ubiquitous messaging and payment platform, WeChat. Pony Ma is third on the list with an estimated personal wealth of £44.4 billion.
Among the people who made the Hurun Rich List, only approximately 30 per cent recorded an increase in their net worth; the rest saw a decline.
TikTok is facing legal battles in the US
Since its launch in 2017, TikTok has attained global popularity, especially among young people, who love its short videos and other innovative features.
However, the app is facing legal battles in the United States where it boasts of almost 200 million users. The app is battling state and federal laws over alleged failures to protect child users. The parent company, ByteDance, is also embroiled in a legal battle that may lead to a nationwide ban of the app from January 2025 if it doesn’t spin off its US operations.
The legal battles notwithstanding, ByteDance’s global profit increased by 60 per cent in 2023, which further increased Zhang Yiming’s personal fortune.
Who is Zhang Yiming?
China’s richest man stepped down from his roles as Chief Executive Officer and chairman of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, in 2021 but holds up to 20 per cent shares in the firm. Zhang co-founded ByteDance with his college roommate, Liang Rubo, in Beijing in 2012.
He cited the daily challenges of the CEO role, which did not allow him to engage in research and innovation as his reason.
In a memo, according to Reuters, Zhang said he is more interested in analysing organisational and market principles that will aid management work.
He said, “I’m not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and contemplating what may be possible.
“I’m more interested in analysing organisational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people.”
TikTok deletes 2.1 million violating videos emanating from Nigeria — Report
Meanwhile, TheRadar reported that TikTok has announced the removal of over 2.1 million videos in Nigeria for violating its community guidelines during the second quarter of 2024.
This initiative is part of the platform’s ongoing commitment to enhance content moderation and create a safer online environment for its users.
