TikTok may seem like it’s been with us forever, but the truth is that it’s a pretty young social network. TikTok, owned by Bytedance, was launched in China in 2016 and only reached our borders in August 2018, when it merged with Musical.ly. The app only needed six to eight years to reach the younger (and not-so-young) demographic and change the way we use social networks and video in general. It’s also a goldmine that has made Bytedance’s founder China’s new richest person.

Data. Hurun Report is a company dedicated to research, media and investments. It was founded by Rupert Hoogewerf (Hu Run in Chinese, hence the name) and one of its most popular products is the Hurun China Rich List, aka the list of the richest people in China. The company has been publishing this information since 1999, that is, for 26 years. The last edition was published today, October 29, and the gold went to Zhang Yiming.

Zhang Yiming. This is the name of Bytedance’s founder. According to the Hurun China Rich List 2024, his wealth is $49.3 billion, making him the richest person in China. This is the first time he has held this position and became the 18th person to achieve this. His company, or rather the company he founded, grew by 30 percent compared to the previous year. In other words, it generated global revenue of $110 billion.

Isn’t it your company? Yes and no. He was CEO until May 2021, when he stepped down to focus on long-term strategy. Liang Rubo has since become the CEO of Bytedance, which owns not only TikTok but also news aggregator TouTiao.

A great fortune but far. Although $49.3 billion is high enough to live comfortably for several generations, the truth is that Yiming’s net worth is not the highest. Moreover, it is not even enough to be among the top 10 richest people in the world.

He has just over $70 billion left to reach Steve Ballmer, who ranks 10th in the rankings with a fortune of $122.5 billion. Considering Elon Musk, the richest person in the world with a fortune of $243.7 billion, it would be better if we didn’t talk at all.

Who was number one before? Zhang Yiming took over from Zhong Shanshan, 70, the founder and chairman of Manantial Nongfu (a drinking water and beverage company). It is also the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmaceutical Enterprise. His fortune was $47.9 billion, 24% less than last year due to the boycott of his products. The reason is that their bottles have some Japanese-style pictures on their labels.

List of richest people in China | Image: Hurun Research

rich people in china. Hurun Research Institute makes deductions from people with wealth of more than 5 billion yuan, that is, people whose wealth exceeds $700 million. If a person has little money, he will not be included in the list.

According to Hurun, there are 1,094 people who can make the cut; This is 12% less than last year. If we talk about billionaires, this number remains at 753, which is 142 fewer than last year. “This means China has lost 432 billionaires, or just over a third, since reaching a record number of 1,185 in 2021,” the firm explains.

127 of the rich are under 40 years old and only 32 are “self-made.” New faces include Charlwin Mao Wenchao and Miranda Qu Fang, co-founders and board members of Xiaohongshu, a new social network that is growing tremendously in China and is considered the social network for young people. Yes, in China TikTok (Douyin, really) is an old man’s thing.

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