TikTok founder tops the list of the richest people in China

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TikTok founder tops the list of the richest people in China
TikTok founder tops the list of the richest people in China

The total wealth of those on the list decreased by 2 trillion euros compared to last year’s list.

Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, topped the list of China’s richest people, according to the Hurun Research Institute, although many of those on the list have seen their fortunes plummet over the past year.

The institute, which publishes the annual Hurun list of China’s rich, found that the total wealth of the entrepreneurs on this year’s list was $3 trillion (2.8 trillion euros), down 10 percent from the previous year.

The number of billionaires, based on their wealth in US dollars, also decreased by 142 to 753. Since 2021, Hurun has counted 1,185 billionaires.

“Hurun’s list of China’s wealthy shrinks in unprecedented fashion for the third year in a row as China’s economy and stock markets have had a tough year,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and principal researcher of the Hurun report.

According to Hurun, ByteDance took the top spot for the first time this year with net assets of $49.3 billion (€45.6 billion).

ByteDance, which is the parent company of popular short video platforms Douyin and TikTok, saw its revenue rise to $110 billion (€101.8 billion) last year.

He also became the first person born in the 1980s to top Hurun’s list.

54 new names in the list of the rich

Bottled water mogul Zhong Shanshan fell to second place in 2024 with $47.9 billion (€44.3 billion) after his Nongfu Spring brand faced backlash in February when consumers accused him of disloyalty to China over the design of its bottles.

The backlash wiped out Nongfu Spring’s market value by billions of dollars.

In third place is Tencent founder Pony Ma with a fortune of $44.4 billion (€41.1 billion) as the gaming company’s revenues have increased.

This year, only 54 new names were added to the list of China’s richest people, the lowest number in two decades.

Among the new additions are Charlwyn Mao and Miranda Ku Fan, founders of Xiaohongshu, a social network and lifestyle platform popular with young users.

China’s economy has lagged behind in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as the country struggles with a real estate crisis and stock market volatility.

Policymakers are expected to unveil major stimulus measures to encourage consumption and spending, which have declined in recent months.

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