Another Billionaire Closes in on Elon Musk, Becomes China’s Richest

• The co-founder of ByteDance is now the richest person in China following growth of TikTok
• Zhang Yiming's net wealth has increased by 43% since 2023 to $49.3 billion (£38 billion)
• TikTok has grown to become one of the most widely used social media apps worldwide over the years

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

Zhang Yiming, the co-founder of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has become the richest person in China amid the app's growing worldwide popularity.

Yiming is currently worth $49.3 billion (£38 billion), which is 43% higher than he was in 2023, according to a list created by the Hurun Research Institute.

Although the 41-year-old resigned as the company's CEO in 2021, he is believed to still own about 20% of the business.

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Despite serious worries about its connections to the Chinese government in some nations, TikTok has grown to become one of the most widely used social media apps worldwide.

BBC reported that although both businesses associated with TikTok maintained that the Chinese government does not influence them, the US plans to outlaw the social media company.

Yiming's personal wealth soared last year as ByteDance's worldwide profit rose by 60% despite the company's severe US criticism.

“Zhang Yiming is the 18th new Number One we have had in China in just 26 years,” said head of Hurun Rupert Hoogewerf.

“The US, by comparison, has only four Number Ones: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

“This gives an indication of some of the dynamism in the Chinese economy.”

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Zhang is not the only representative of China’s global tech sector on the list.

Pony Ma, the boss of the tech conglomerate Tencent, is third on the list, with an estimated personal wealth of £44.4bn.

However, their fortunes are not just explained by their company’s successes – their rivals have made less in a year in which China’s economy has sputtered.

Only approximately 30% of the people on the list had increased net worth—the rest saw a decline.

“The Hurun China Rich List has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year,” said Mr Hoogewerf.

“The number of individuals on the list was down by 12 per cent in the past year to just under 1100 individuals and 25 per cent from the high point of 2021.”

He said the data showed it had been a good year for smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, while the green energy market had stumbled.

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More job losses expected as another foreign company announces plan to leave Nigeria, gives reasons

Nigerian govt to sanction Elon Musk's company

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reportedly found Starlink guilty of breaching part of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.

This followed the company's decision to increase its subscription rates without regulatory approval.

Legit.ng had reported that Starlink, owned by Elon Musk, announced a near 100% increase in its subscription fee from N38,000 to N75,000.

Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng