The founder of ByteDance, Zhang Yiming, has officially become China’s richest individual, according to the latest rankings from Hurun Research Institute.
With a personal fortune of $49.3 billion, Zhang has overtaken Zhong Shanshan, Chairperson of Nongfu Spring, who has held the top position for the past three years, according to CNBC.
Zhong’s wealth fell 24% to $47.9 billion following a public backlash against his company earlier this year.
Zhang, 44, was ranked fifth in the previous year. ByteDance, renowned for its immensely popular app TikTok, boasts over a billion active monthly users worldwide.
The company reported a 30% surge in profits last year, contributing to Zhang’s rise in the rankings.
The CEO of Tencent, Pony Ma Huateng dropped to third place despite a 13% increase in his wealth, which now stands at $44.4 billion, fueled by a boost in the company’s revenue and profit.
The founder of the e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, Colin Huang
ranked fourth, though his wealth declined by 9%.
Midea founder, He Xiangjian and CATL’s CEO Zeng Yuqun occupy the fifth and sixth spots on the list, respectively.
China has 1,094 individuals with wealth exceeding 5 billion yuan ($700 million), down by 12% or 147 individuals from the previous year, according to Hurun Research. The combined wealth of these entrepreneurs amounted to $3 trillion, 10% lower than last year.
The number of billionaires in the country decreased by 142, falling to 753 from the previous year. This marks a decline of over 30% from the 2021 peak of 1,185 billionaires.
“The Hurun China Rich List has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun report chairman and chief researcher.
The current rich list is largely composed of entrepreneurs from the technology, consumer electronics, and new energy sectors, shifting away from the previous dominance of real estate developers, according to Hoogewerf.
