WORLD
Founder of TikTok owner ByteDance jumps to top of China's rich list
Baku, October 29, AZERTAC
ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is China's richest person, with personal wealth of $49.3 billion, an annual rich list showed on Tuesday, although counterparts in real estate and renewables have fared less well.
According to The Economic Times, Zhang, 41, who stepped down as chief executive of ByteDance in 2021, becomes the 18th individual to be crowned China's richest person in the 26 years since the Hurun China Rich List was first published.
He overtook bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan, who slipped to second place as his fortune dropped 24% to $47.9 billion.
Despite a legal battle over its U.S. assets, ByteDance's global revenue grew 30% last year to $110 billion, Hurun said, helping to propel Zhang's personal fortune.
Third on the list was Tencent's low-profile founder, Pony Ma, while Colin Huang, founder of PDD Holdings, slipped to fourth place from third last year, even as his firm's discount-focused e-commerce platforms, Pinduoduo and Temu, continue to show healthy revenue growth.
"China's economy and stock markets had a difficult year," said Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf.
The most dramatic falls in fortunes have come from China's real estate sector, he added, while consumer electronics is clearly rising fast, with Xiaomi founder Lei Jun adding $5 billion to his wealth this year.