ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is China’s richest person, with a personal wealth of $49.3 billion, an annual rich list showed on Tuesday. However, counterparts in real estate and renewables have fared less well.
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 assets in the United States, ByteDance’s global revenue grew 30% last year to $110 billion, Hurun said, helping to propel Zhang’s 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 continue to show healthy revenue growth.
The number of billionaires on the list dropped by 142 to 753, shrinking more than a third from its 2021 peak.
“China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year,” said Hurun Report Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf.
He added that China’s real estate sector has experienced the most dramatic fortunes falls, while consumer electronics is clearly rising fast.
“Solar panel, lithium battery, and EV makers have had a challenging year, as competition intensified, leading to a glut, and the threat of tariffs added to uncertainties,” said Hoogewerf, the list’s chief researcher.
“Solar panel makers saw their wealth down as much as 80% from the 2021 peak, while battery and EV makers were down by half and a quarter respectively.”
