ByteDance Cofounder Zhang Yiming Becomes China’s Richest, Surpassing Beverage Tycoon Zhong Shanshan

Zhang Yiming, cofounder of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, has overtaken Zhong Shanshan, Chairman of beverage giant Nongfu Spring, to become the richest person in China. Zhang, 40, has secured the top spot with a net worth of $45.6 billion, slightly ahead of Zhong’s $43.3 billion. Zhang stepped down as chairman of ByteDance in 2021 following his resignation as CEO earlier that year.

Despite his departure from day-to-day operations, Zhang’s wealth continues to come from his significant stake in the privately held ByteDance, which is valued at $217 billion based on data from trading platforms and analyst interviews. Although ByteDance’s valuation has decreased from its peak of over $400 billion in 2021 due to geopolitical tensions and a broader downturn in the tech sector, Zhang’s fortune now surpasses that of Zhong Shanshan.

Zhong, 69, who had been China’s wealthiest person for three consecutive years, has faced challenges in expanding Nongfu Spring’s core bottled water business. The company’s shares, listed in Hong Kong, have dropped another 7.5% since reporting its 2024 interim results on August 28, when Zhong’s wealth fell by $4.4 billion due to an 18.5% decline in bottled water sales amid fierce competition and public relations setbacks. Nongfu Spring is currently trading at its lowest level since its 2020 IPO.

Zhong briefly lost his title as China’s richest person in early August to Colin Huang, founder of e-commerce giant PDD Holdings. However, Huang’s position was short-lived as PDD’s shares on the Nasdaq plummeted by 30% on August 26 following management’s forecast of significantly slower profit growth.

Meanwhile, ByteDance is not without its own difficulties. Zhang, who maintains a low profile and described himself as “not very social” in his 2021 resignation letter, handed over leadership to his former college roommate Liang Rubo, a longtime ByteDance executive who previously headed human resources. Zhang is now based in Singapore, according to court records.

ByteDance faces a major legal battle in the U.S. Supreme Court over a ban-or-divest order signed by President Joe Biden in April, which mandates that the company must sell TikTok or face a U.S. ban by January due to concerns over its Chinese ownership and potential national security risks. In light of these uncertainties and the fading prospect of an IPO, some ByteDance investors, such as billionaire Philippe Laffont’s Coatue Management, are reportedly considering selling portions of their stakes in private markets. Laffont has recently left ByteDance’s board and has been replaced by Xavier Neil, a billionaire who owns France’s telecom giant Iliad.

Despite its challenges abroad, ByteDance’s domestic operations continue to perform robustly. Glen Anderson, cofounder and CEO of U.S.-based broker-dealer Rainmaker Securities, notes that ByteDance’s “amazingly profitable” Chinese business has prevented a further decline in its valuation, even after the signing of the U.S. ban-or-divest order. ByteDance’s sales reportedly grew to $120 billion in 2023, up from $80 billion the previous year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose to over $40 billion from about $25 billion in 2022. The company’s revenue comes from digital advertisements placed on Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, which boasts over 700 million daily active users in China.

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