Social media is overtaking bottled water as TikTok founder tops ET BrandEquity’s rich list

Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance attends the opening ceremony of the 5th World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang province on November 7, 2018. (Chinatopix Via AP)

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is China’s richest person, with a personal fortune of $49.3 billion, an annual rich list showed on Tuesday, although counterparts in the real estate and renewable energy sectors have fared less well.

Zhang, 41, who stepped down as CEO of ByteDance in 2021, becomes the 18th person 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 fell to second place as his fortune fell 24% to $47.9 billion.

Despite a legal battle over its U.S. assets, ByteDance’s global revenue grew 30% to $110 billion last year, Hurun said, helping to boost Zhang’s personal fortune.

Third on the list was Pony Ma, the low-profile founder of Tencent, while Colin Huang, founder of PDD Holdings, fell from third place last year to fourth, even as his company’s discount-focused e-commerce platforms, Pinduoduo, remain and Temu, show healthy sales growth.

The number of billionaires on the list fell by 142 to 753, a drop of more than a third from the 2021 peak.

“The Chinese economy and stock markets have had a difficult year,” says Hurun Report chairman Rupert Hoogewerf.

The most dramatic decline in fortunes has come from China’s real estate sector, he added, while consumer electronics is clearly rising rapidly, with Xiaomi founder Lei Jun adding $5 billion to his fortune this year.

“Solar panels, lithium batteries and EV makers have had a challenging year as competition has increased, leading to a glut, and the threat of tariffs has increased uncertainty,” said Hoogewerf, who is also the list’s lead researcher.

“Solar panel manufacturers saw their wealth drop by as much as 80% from their 2021 peak, while battery and EV makers fell by half and a quarter, respectively.”

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)