TikTok founder Zhang Yiming overtakes India’s Mukesh Ambani as Asia’s 2nd richest billionaire

Zhang Yiming, founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, has become Asia's second-richest individual with a net worth of US$92.8 billion, surpassing Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.

Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, speaks at a forum during the 2nd World Internet Conference in east China's Zhejiang province, Dec. 17, 2015

Zhang’s fortune jumped more than $24 billion on Wednesday after Bloomberg assessed ByteDance valuations from investors such as BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price Group.

The increase reflects the popularity of TikTok and ByteDance’s AI chatbot Doubao, which has attracted more than 300 million monthly users and become China's most popular chatbot.

ByteDance also transferred parts of its U.S. operations to American investors earlier this year but its profile remained intact afterward.

Meanwhile, Ambani, chairman of conglomerate Reliance Industries, slipped to third place in Asia's wealth rankings with a net worth of $86.9 billion.

His fortune has declined by $20.8 billion so far this year amid volatile global oil prices and geopolitical turbulence, according to the Financial Express.

The conglomerate, founded by his father Dhirubhai Ambani in the 1950s, has interests in energy, retail and entertainment, with petrochemicals accounting for more than half of its business.

Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, another Indian conglomerate, remained Asia's richest person with $117.4 billion in wealth.

In fourth place was Tadashi Yanai, founder of Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing, with $72.5 billion. Investment giant SoftBank’s founder Masayoshi Son rounded out the top five with $72 billion.

Zhang co-founded ByteDance in 2012 from a modest four-bedroom apartment in Beijing. It started out with news aggregator Toutiao before finding success through short-video app Douyin, which was later introduced internationally as TikTok.

The firm has since grown into an internet giant whose businesses span areas including e-commerce, education, gaming and news, according to Forbes.

In 2021, Zhang stepped down as both chief executive officer and chairman of ByteDance, though he remains a shareholder in the company. Legal filings in 2024 suggested he owns 21% of the firm.

Zhang first claimed the title of China's richest person last year, but later lost it to bottled water tycoon Zhong Shanshan before reclaiming it earlier this year.