10/29/2024–|Last updated: 10/29/202411:32 PM (Mecca time)
Zhang Yiming, founder of the TikTok application, topped the list of the richest people in China for the first time, according to the Shanghai-based Chinese magazine Hurun, as his wealth reached $49.3 billion, an increase of 43% from 2023.
The magazine said that Zhang (41 years old) belongs to the new generation of Chinese businessmen who focus on global business more than their predecessors.
Zhang, founder of ByteDance, which owns TikTok, increased his business volume by 30% last year. TikTok has about 200 million users in the United States alone.
Zhong Shanshan left the top spot on the list for the first time in three years. Zhong, 70, whose fortune amounts to $47.9 billion due to his Nongfu Spring bottled water business, came in second place.
Ma Huateng, founder of the technology company Tencent, came in third place with a fortune of $44.4 billion.
The TikTok application is considered one of the most popular social media applications in the world, despite growing concerns in some countries about its relationship with the Chinese government.
Despite TikTok and ByteDance’s assertions of their independence from the state, the United States intends to ban TikTok in January 2025 if ByteDance does not sell it.
US market pressures
Despite threats to ban the app in the United States, ByteDance increased its global profits by 60% last year, leading to a significant increase in Zhang’s personal wealth.
Robert Hoogorfe, president of the Hurun Institute, pointed out that Zhang is the 18th person to top the list of wealthy people in China in 26 years, compared to the United States, which saw only 4 people at the top.
Zhang Yiming’s wealth was not the only one that rose in the Chinese technology sector, as Pony Ma, CEO of Tencent Group, came in third place on the list with a fortune estimated at $57.75 billion.
