Last updated: October 27, 2026
Zhang Yiming is the founder of ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, Douyin and the Doubao AI assistant. On Oct. 27, 2026, the Hurun China Rich List ranked him China’s richest person for the second time, with a fortune of US$99.7 billion, the highest ever recorded for the top spot. His wealth rose 43% in a year, mostly because of AI. What’s surprising is that he hasn’t run ByteDance day to day since 2021. He gave up the CEO job at 38, writing that he was “not very social” and would rather analyze organizations than manage people. He lives in Singapore and almost never gives interviews.
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Quick facts
Born: April 1, 1983, Longyan, Fujian province, China
Age: 43
Company: Founder of ByteDance (2012). He was CEO until November 2021.
Education: Nankai University, Tianjin (2005). He switched his major from microelectronics to software engineering.
Lives: Singapore. He is a Chinese citizen, according to court filings reported by Fortune and Bloomberg.
Net worth: US$99.7 billion (Hurun China Rich List 2026, as of Sept. 1, 2026). Bloomberg estimated about US$105 billion in September 2026.
Known for: TikTok, Douyin, Toutiao and Doubao, China’s most-used AI assistant according to Hurun
Who is Zhang Yiming?
Zhang is a software engineer who bet that a computer could pick what you want to read and watch better than a human editor could. That bet became ByteDance. He started it in 2012 in a Beijing apartment, and it is now China’s most valuable startup, according to Hurun.
He grew up in Longyan, in Fujian province, and studied at Nankai University in Tianjin, where he also met his wife. His name, per the South China Morning Post, comes from a Chinese proverb about surprising everyone with your first attempt. It took him a while to get there. After graduating in 2005 he became one of the first employees at Kuxun, a travel search site, and was soon running dozens of engineers. He joined Microsoft but found its corporate rules stifling and left for Fanfou, a Twitter-like startup that didn’t survive. Then he founded 99fang, a real-estate search site.
In 2012 he noticed that smartphone users in China were struggling to find information, and he decided to push content to them using recommendations instead of search. Many investors turned him down. He launched ByteDance with Liang Rubo, a college friend who is now the company’s CEO, and Toutiao, a news app driven by recommendations, came out that August. Douyin followed in 2016 and TikTok, its international version, in 2017.
Then, in May 2021, at the height of TikTok’s success, he announced he would step back. “The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager,” he wrote to staff. He handed the CEO job to Liang Rubo that November and moved into long-term strategy.
He doesn’t run ByteDance now, but he still owns a lot of it. Bloomberg estimates his stake at about 21%. Reuters has reported that he holds more than half of the voting rights.
Career timeline
1983: Born in Longyan, Fujian.
2001–2005: Studies at Nankai University in Tianjin.
2005–2006: Joins Kuxun, a travel search startup, as an early engineer. Becomes technical director a year later.
2008: Joins Microsoft, then leaves for the startup Fanfou.
2009: Founds 99fang, a real-estate search site spun out of Kuxun.
March 2012: Founds ByteDance in a Beijing apartment. Toutiao launches that August.
2016: ByteDance launches Douyin, a short-video app.
2017: ByteDance launches TikTok internationally. In November it agrees to buy Musical.ly in a deal reported at up to US$1 billion and later merges it into TikTok.
April 2018: Regulators shut down the joke app Neihan Duanzi, and Zhang publishes a public apology.
May 2021: Announces he will step down as CEO. Liang Rubo succeeds him in November 2021.
2023: ByteDance launches Doubao, an AI chatbot.
2024: Tops the Hurun China Rich List for the first time.
January 2026: TikTok’s U.S. joint venture closes. ByteDance keeps 19.9%.
September 2026: Passes Gautam Adani to become Asia’s richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Oct. 27, 2026: No. 1 on the Hurun China Rich List again, at a record US$99.7 billion.
Notable deals & projects
Toutiao (2012): The news app driven by recommendations that proved his idea worked.
Douyin and TikTok (2016–2017): Short-video apps built on the same recommendation engine. Hurun puts TikTok at more than 1.6 billion users.
Musical.ly (2017): The lip-sync app ByteDance bought and folded into TikTok, which gave it a ready-made U.S. audience.
Doubao (2023): ByteDance’s AI assistant. Hurun calls it China’s most-used. Bloomberg reported it passed 300 million monthly users in 2026.
TikTok USDS Joint Venture (2026): To keep TikTok running in the U.S., ByteDance sold control of the U.S. business to a group led by Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX. It kept a 19.9% stake.
Want the full story? Read our edition on the race between the AI giants — The AI titans locked in an arms race — then subscribe free.
What he’s known for
Algorithms over editors: ByteDance’s founding idea was that machine recommendations, not human curation, should decide what people see.
Thinking global early: He pushed ByteDance into the U.S., Europe and Japan at a time when most Chinese tech founders stayed focused at home.
Stepping back at the top: He handed off the CEO job at 38, at the height of TikTok’s success, saying management wasn’t his strength.
Being private: He rarely speaks in public, and Hurun calls him a Singapore resident.
In the news
Oct. 27, 2026: The Hurun China Rich List ranks Zhang No. 1 with US$99.7 billion, up 43%, or US$33.8 billion. That was the biggest gain on this year’s list. Hurun credited ByteDance’s growing profits from advertising and AI across Douyin, TikTok and Doubao. Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun’s chairman and chief researcher, said Zhang is “already two-thirds of the way” to a fortune of one trillion yuan. The South China Morning Post and AP also covered the list.
Sept. 16, 2026: Bloomberg reported that Zhang had passed Gautam Adani as Asia’s richest person, with about US$105 billion.
January 2026: The TikTok USDS Joint Venture was finalized. Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX each hold 15%, and ByteDance holds 19.9%.
Quotes
“The truth is, I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager. I’m more interested in analyzing organizational and market principles, and leveraging these theories to further reduce management work, rather than actually managing people.” — Letter to ByteDance employees, May 2021
“I’m not very social, preferring solitary activities like being online, reading, listening to music, and daydreaming about what may be possible.” — Same letter, May 2021
“Zhang Yiming is already two-thirds of the way” to a fortune of one trillion yuan. — Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun, Oct. 27, 2026
Controversies / criticism
The 2018 apology: Chinese regulators permanently shut down Neihan Duanzi, ByteDance’s joke app, over vulgar content. Zhang published a public apology saying the product had “gone astray” and conflicted with “socialist core values.” He promised to grow ByteDance’s content-review team from 6,000 to 10,000 people. Critics saw it as a sign of how closely Chinese tech founders answer to Beijing.
TikTok and U.S. national security: For years, U.S. officials argued that ByteDance’s Chinese ownership put American user data at risk. A 2024 law forced the company to sell control of TikTok’s U.S. business or face a ban. The joint venture that closed in January 2026 resolved this, and ByteDance kept a minority stake.
Net worth & money
Hurun estimates Zhang’s fortune at US$99.7 billion as of Sept. 1, 2026. That’s up 43% from last year and a record for China’s richest person. Bloomberg put him at about US$105 billion in mid-September 2026. Bloomberg bases its figure on an estimated 21% stake in ByteDance and applies a discount because the company is private. Both numbers are estimates. ByteDance isn’t publicly traded, so the valuation comes from investor marks and private deals, and the trackers can differ by billions.
FAQ
Who is Zhang Yiming?
He is the Chinese founder of ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, Douyin and Doubao, and he is China’s richest person on the 2026 Hurun China Rich List.
How much is Zhang Yiming worth?
Hurun estimated US$99.7 billion as of Sept. 1, 2026. Bloomberg estimated about US$105 billion in September 2026.
Is Zhang Yiming still CEO of ByteDance?
No. He stepped down in 2021, and his co-founder and college friend Liang Rubo became CEO.
Does Zhang Yiming own TikTok?
Partly, through ByteDance. ByteDance owns TikTok outside the U.S. and kept 19.9% of the U.S. joint venture formed in January 2026.
Where does Zhang Yiming live?
Singapore, according to Hurun and to court filings reported by Fortune and Bloomberg in 2024.
How old is Zhang Yiming?
He is 43. He was born on April 1, 1983.
Further reading
Hurun China Rich List 2026 — Hurun Report
ByteDance’s Zhang Yiming tops China rich list at US$99.7 billion as AI fuels fortunes — South China Morning Post
TikTok’s lawsuit reveals ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is living in Singapore — Fortune
Who Is Liang Wenfeng? — The Profile
Who Is Dario Amodei? — The Profile
The AI titans locked in an arms race — The Profile
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