TikTok’s founder Zhang Yiming has change into China’s richest man with a fortune of virtually $50bn (£38bn).
Dubbed the “short video king”, the 41-year-old topped the Hurun China Wealthy Checklist for the primary time with $49.3bn (£37.9bn).
Mr Yiming stepped down as chief government of ByteDance, TikTok’s father or mother firm, in 2021.
He’s the 18th particular person to be topped China’s richest particular person within the 26 years for the reason that Hurun China Wealthy Checklist started.
He dethroned bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan, who slipped to second place as his fortune dropped 24% to $47.9bn (£36.8bn).
Quite a lot of the billionaires on the listing noticed their fortunes plummet over the previous yr with troublesome financial situations in China.
This comes throughout a authorized battle over ByteDance’s US property as TikTok could possibly be banned within the US subsequent yr except its father or mother firm goes via with a sale amid accusations it’s giving knowledge to the Chinese language authorities – one thing it denies.
Laws was handed by the Home of Representatives earlier this yr.
If the invoice turns into legislation, the proprietor of the favored video-sharing app could have 9 months to discover a purchaser, with a attainable three-month extension whereas a sale is in progress, or face a ban.
The FBI has warned that ByteDance might share consumer knowledge, resembling searching historical past, location and biometric identifiers, with China’s authoritarian authorities.
TikTok has mentioned it has by no means accomplished that and wouldn’t accomplish that if requested.
Regardless of the battle, ByteDance’s international income grew 30% final yr, and Mr Yiming nonetheless has a stake in it, serving to propel his private fortune.
China’s economic system has undergone a troublesome yr and has continued to lag within the aftermath of COVID, with an actual property disaster and a unstable inventory market.
