TikTok boss becomes China's richest person in 2024

In the "China Rich List" published by the Hurun Research Institute, Zhang took the top spot with a fortune of 49.3 billion dollars.

The 41-year-old Zhang, who developed both popular applications under his parent company ByteDance, which he founded in 2012, has reached the number one spot on the list for the first time.

Despite a decision by the US Congress requiring the divestiture of TikTok—or facing a ban—on the grounds that ByteDance is linked to the Chinese government, the company's global revenues have increased by 30 percent in the last year, with its user base approaching 200 million worldwide.

Although he stepped down from the company's management in 2021, Zhang still holds a significant stake, and his personal wealth has risen by 43 percent over the past year.

'WATER KING' DROPS TO SECOND PLACE

Zhong Shanshan, the founder and boss of the bottled natural spring water company Nongfu Spring, who had topped the list for the last three years, fell to second place with a fortune of 47.9 billion dollars.

Public criticism regarding his son's US citizenship and certain disputes following the death of a rival water company's boss dealt a significant blow to the revenues of Zhong's water business this year. The 71-year-old businessman's wealth decreased by 24 percent in the last year.

Zhong had first reached the top of the list in 2020, surpassing Jack Ma, the founder of the Chinese internet company Alibaba.

Pony Ma Huateng, the founder and boss of Tencent—one of China's leading internet and technology companies, which owns the WeChat application platform that performs numerous functions including messaging and electronic payments—ranked third on the list with a fortune of 44.4 billion dollars.

While the number of WeChat users exceeded 1.3 billion at the end of 2023, the 53-year-old Ma's wealth increased by 13 percent compared to last year.

18 NAMES HAVE REACHED THE TOP OF THE LIST IN 26 YEARS

The list, which includes individuals with a personal fortune exceeding 5 billion yuan (approximately 700 million dollars), featured 1,094 people this year, a 12 percent decrease in the number of people on the list compared to last year. While the total wealth of those on the list reached 3 trillion dollars, the amount of wealth decreased by 10 percent.

Zhang Yiming became the 18th person to rise to the top of the list in China in the 26 years since the Hurun list was created.

Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Institute, pointed out that only 4 names have risen to the position of richest person in the US during the same period, emphasizing that this points to the dynamic nature of the Chinese economy.

In the US, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk have been the names to hold the "richest" title over the last 26 years.