- Zhang Yiming has amassed a $49.3 billion fortune since co-founding ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok.
- Mr. Zhang is very private, and little is known about his personal life.
- He recently became the richest person in China. Here’s a look at his career and life.
TikTok’s widespread popularity has not only spawned a new generation of social media stars, but also helped coin China’s richest man.
Zhang Yiming, the 41-year-old software engineer who founded the app’s parent company ByteDance, currently has a net worth of $49.3 billion, according to the 2024 Hu Run China Billionaire List, which records China’s richest people.
Mr. Zhang is a very private person, and little is known publicly about his private life. However, he has recently come back into the spotlight after being included in a list of China’s richest people.
After running ByteDance for nearly 10 years, Zhang stepped down as CEO in 2021 and told employees to “be less social and spend more time online, reading, listening to music, “I prefer solitary activities, such as contemplating what is possible.”
“Actually, I lack some skills to be an ideal manager,” Zhang said at the time, according to Reuters, adding that a role that didn’t involve direct employee management would be better for the company. He said it would be helpful.
Here’s what we know about his career rise and life.