ByteDance’s Zhang Yiming Tops China Rich List at $100 Billion

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has reclaimed the top spot on the China rich list, with a fortune of $100 billion that the Hurun Research Institute attributes largely to the company’s push into artificial intelligence. Hurun released the ranking on Tuesday, October 27. It said the figure is a record for China’s richest person.

Zhang’s wealth rose 43% from a year earlier. Hurun Report chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said the gain came “almost all of it on the back of AI,” and noted that ByteDance’s Doubao is China’s most used AI assistant. ByteDance also owns Douyin and TikTok. 

Bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan fell to second with $61 billion, down 23%, and CATL chairman Robin Zeng, whose company is the world’s largest maker of electric vehicle batteries, placed third. DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, a new entrant, ranked seventh, and Cambricon chair Chen Tianshi was tenth.

The China rich list shows high-tech sectors rising while consumer and real estate businesses come under pressure, according to the institute. Hoogewerf said 160 people on the list, or about one in 10, now make their money from AI. Hurun found a record 1,529 people with more than 5 billion yuan, about $750 million, up 6.6% from last year, and said the number of dollar billionaires rose by 155 to 1,176. The institute has published the list annually since 1999.

Hurun’s figures are estimates that it cross-checked with entrepreneurs, regulators and industry experts, and the institute acknowledges limitations. Because they move with share prices and valuations, rankings can shift before next year’s list.