China's rich list: TikTok billionaire Zhang Yiming reclaims crown as mainland property tycoons disappear from top 100
Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok's parent company ByteDance, has returned to the top of China’s wealth ranking as all mainland property developers have dropped out of the top 100.
Zhang Yiming, the 43-year-old billionaire behind TikTok parent ByteDance, reclaimed the top spot on China's richest list after a 43% jump in his net worth to nearly $100 billion. His closest competitor, Zhong Shanshan, fell to second place with a 23% drop in his $61 billion fortune. The Hurun China Rich List, now in its 28th year, ranks entrepreneurs worth over 5 billion yuan, or $750 million, as of September 1.
This year, 1,529 individuals made the list, with AI emerging as the dominant wealth driver. Among the top 10, five are AI-related, including Liang Wenfeng and Chen Tianshi, both 41-year-old AI start-up founders. For the first time ever, no mainland property developers remain in the top 100, as their wealth has significantly declined since property boomed a decade ago during China's urbanization push.
Only Hong Kong's Li Ka Shing and his son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, aged 98 and 62, respectively, are left in the top 10 with a combined net worth of $37.6 billion.
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