Who is Zhang Yiming? ByteDance co-founder & China’s richest person beats Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos in 2025 wealth gains

Zhang’s net worth has increased by 31% this year to $57.5 billion.

Zhang, the 41-year-old software engineer, has surpassed Tencent founder and CEO Pony Ma as the richest person in China. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ma enjoys a net worth of $56.5 billion.

Zhang Yiming becomes China’s richest person and the third-richest person in Asia

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zhang has successfully become the richest person in China and the third-richest person in Asia, trailing only Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.

ByteDance, a Beijing-based parent company of popular video-sharing app TikTok and news aggregator Toutiao, made over $110 billion in 2023.

Zhang is a very reclusive individual, and not much about his personal life is known to the general world.

Also Read: What is Walmart CEO’s net worth? Know about Doug McMillon as boycott over profits hit US

In 2021, Zhang, who had been the CEO of ByteDance for about ten years, reportedly told staff members that he is “not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and contemplating what may be possible.”

“The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager,” Zhang said at the time, according to Reuters, saying he would be a better help to the company in a role that didn’t involve managing people directly.

Zhang reportedly told Reuters at the time, “The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager,” stating that he would benefit the company more in a position that did not directly entail managing people.

Know about other billionaires wealth including Musk and Bezos

Warren Buffett and Jeff Yass are two more billionaires who have increased their wealth by more than $10 billion this year, with a profit of $11.5 billion each.

The fourth-richest person in the world, Buffett’s net worth has surged to $153.5 billion. Zhang Yiming, meanwhile, is ranked 23rd in the world.

Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, has experienced the most severe losses. On Monday, shares of Tesla Inc. fell as much as 17.5% in just three sessions, wiping off $159 billion in market capitalization and lowering Tesla’s valuation to $750 billion. As of December 2024, Musk owned over 42% of SpaceX and 13% of Tesla, which were valued at close to $350 billion.

Other tech behemoths have also suffered significant losses. Since January, the fortunes of Bezos and Larry Ellison of Oracle have dropped by $43 billion and $45 billion, respectively.