TikTok co-founder Zhang Yiming overtakes Gautam Adani as Asia’s richest

Dubai: Zhang Yiming, co-founder of ByteDance, the Chinese technology company behind TikTok, has overtaken Indian billionaire Gautam Adani to become Asia’s richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Zhang, 43, has a net worth of about $105.5 billion, putting him ahead of Adani, whose fortune stands at about $104.8 billion, according to the latest ranking reported on September 15.

The rise marks a significant increase in Zhang’s wealth. Bloomberg began tracking his fortune at $13 billion in March 2019. His net worth has since increased more than eightfold, with his fortune gaining more than $12 billion this month following updated valuations of ByteDance reported by investment firms including BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price.

Zhang built his fortune through ByteDance, whose global success has been driven by TikTok and other digital platforms. In recent years, the company has also expanded its focus on artificial intelligence, including products such as the Doubao chatbot and Seedance video-generation tool.

Asia’s five richest

According to the Bloomberg ranking cited in reports, the top five Asian billionaires are:

• Zhang Yiming — ByteDance, China

• Gautam Adani — Adani Group, India

• Mukesh Ambani — Reliance Industries, India

• Tadashi Yanai — Fast Retailing/Uniqlo, Japan

• Masayoshi Son — SoftBank, Japan

Zhang also became China’s richest person last year. He is known for keeping a relatively low public profile and has rarely spoken extensively about his personal life.

In 2021, after stepping down as ByteDance’s chief executive, Zhang told employees that he was not particularly social and preferred activities such as being online, reading, listening to music and thinking about future possibilities.

Billionaires dominate global wealth rankings

The latest Bloomberg ranking also places several of the world’s best-known billionaires among the top 20. Larry Ellison is listed with $194 billion, followed by Jensen Huang with $176 billion, Steve Ballmer with $174 billion and Warren Buffett with $147 billion.

Zhang Yiming is ranked 18th globally with about $105 billion, while Thomas Peterffy is also listed at about $105 billion. Gautam Adani ranks 20th with about $105 billion.

The rankings can change as share prices, private-company valuations and other financial factors move, making billionaire wealth figures subject to frequent updates.