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ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has become Asia richest person for the first time, with a net worth exceeding USD 105 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The 43-year-old has overtaken Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, whose fortune stood at a similarly close USD 104.8 billion at the same reading.
Zhang wealth has grown roughly eightfold from the USD 13 billion recorded when Bloomberg first began tracking him in March 2019. In September alone, his net worth rose by more than USD 12 billion, driven by upward valuation adjustments from investment firms including BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price. Since ByteDance remains privately held, Zhang’s wealth is an estimate based on the company’s valuation rather than a traded share price.
The rise comes despite a three-year regulatory battle in the United States that nearly forced TikTok out of its largest Western market, before a January 2026 agreement created a US joint venture involving Oracle and Silver Lake. Zhang’s fortune is tied largely to ByteDance’s AI initiatives, including its Doubao chatbot, which has surpassed 300 million monthly users, and its Seedance video-generation model.
Zhang ranks 18th on the global rich list, according to the index. He is currently the only member of Asia’s top five wealthiest individuals whose fortune is built on internet platforms and AI, rather than traditional asset-heavy industries.
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