Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, has overtaken Indian business magnate Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s second-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Zhang’s net worth has risen to an estimated US$92.8 billion, placing him behind Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who remains Asia’s richest person with a fortune of about US$97.9 billion. Mukesh Ambani has slipped to third place with an estimated net worth of US$86.9 billion.
The surge in Zhang’s wealth has been driven by a rise in ByteDance’s valuation, supported by the continued global success of TikTok and rapid growth in the company’s artificial intelligence ventures, including its Doubao chatbot, which has attracted more than 300 million monthly users in China.
Bloomberg reported that recent adjustments to ByteDance’s valuation, following developments related to its US operations and growing investor confidence, added more than US$24 billion to Zhang’s fortune.
Zhang, who founded ByteDance in 2012, remains China’s richest person and has seen his wealth grow more than sevenfold since Bloomberg began tracking it in 2019. (Newswire)