ByteDance Founder Zhang Yiming Returns to Top of China's Rich List on AI Boom

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has regained the top position on a ranking of China's richest people, lifted by his company's expansion into artificial intelligence. The list was released Tuesday by the Hurun Research Institute.

Zhang's wealth reached $100 billion, an increase of 43%. Hurun Report chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said the gain came "almost all of it on the back of AI." He pointed out that ByteDance's Doubao is the most widely used AI assistant in China. ByteDance also owns the popular short-video platforms Douyin and TikTok.

The institute, which has compiled the list every year since 1999, counted a record 1,529 people with fortunes above 5 billion yuan, or about $750 million. That is up 6.6% from a year earlier. Measured in U.S. dollars, the number of billionaires climbed to 1,176, an addition of 155 people. That is 176 more than the United States has, though slightly below the 1,185 recorded in 2021.

Hoogewerf described AI as the largest single source of new wealth on the list. "160 Hurun rich listers, 1 in 10, now make their money from AI," he said.

Bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan slipped to second place with $61 billion, a drop of 23%. Robin Zeng, chairman of CATL, the world's largest maker of electric vehicle batteries, ranked third. DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, a newcomer to the list, placed seventh, while Cambricon chair Chen Tianshi, whose company makes AI chips, was tenth. Hurun said it cross-checked its information with entrepreneurs, regulators and industry experts, while acknowledging the limits of its method.

Hoogewerf characterized the year's results as uneven. Entrepreneurs in AI, semiconductors and robotics pulled ahead, he said, while those in consumer goods, real estate and traditional manufacturing watched their wealth decline, "a two-speed economy." Xiaomi chairman Lei Jun was the biggest faller, with his fortune cut in half to $25.1 billion. Consumer-sector wealth fell across the board.

The property slump was also visible. Hoogewerf said that for the first time, no mainland property developer remains in the top 100. The only real estate names still near the top are Hong Kong landlord families.

The rankings arrive against a mixed economic backdrop. China said last week that its economy grew 4.5% in the July to September quarter from a year earlier, supported by strong exports. That brings the country closer to its official annual target of 4.5% to 5%, after growth of 5% last year.

Some industries are thriving thanks to government backing for technologies such as AI and electric vehicles. Small business owners, however, have reported difficult conditions as customers cut spending, and domestic demand continues to be weighed down by a yearslong property market downturn.