Billionaire ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming becomes China's richest person

Zhang Yiming, the founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, has become China’s wealthiest person for the first time, according to Bloomberg.

He has surpassed Chinese bottled water tycoon Zhong Shanshan and Tencent (0700) co-founder Pony Ma Huateng with a US$57.5 billion (HK$448.5 billion) fortune.

This came after Zhong’s wealth shrank to US$54.1 billion due to an earnings slowdown in his bottled water brand Nongfu Spring (9633). 

Zhang now ranks as Asia’s third richest person after India’s Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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