Beijing — ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming reclaimed the top spot on a list of China's richest people, driven by his company's push into artificial intelligence. The rankings released by The Hurun Research Institute on Tuesday reflected that the country's high-tech sectors were rising while others, like the consumer sector and real estate, were under pressure. The institute, which has published the list annually since 1999, found a record 1,529 people with more than 5 billion yuan (about $750 million), up 6.6% from last year.
The number of billionaires based on their net worth in U.S. dollars rose to 1,176, up 155 people - 176 more than in the U.S. That was slightly below the 1,185 people in 2021. Zhang topped the list with $100 billion, up 43%, "almost all of it on the back of AI," and the amount was a record high for China's richest person, Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman, said in a statement.
Hoogewerf noted that ByteDance's Doubao is China's most used AI assistant. AI is the biggest single wealth engine on the list: 160 people - one in 10 - now make their money from AI, he said. ByteDance is the parent company of popular short-video platforms TikTok and Douyin.
TikTok's U.S.-based operations were shifted to a new joint venture in January made up mostly of American investors due to years of national security-related concerns that almost got TikTok banned in the U.S. ByteDance still holds a minority stake in TikTok's U.S. arm. One of the investors in TikTok's U.S. venture is Oracle, a tech company chaired by Larry Ellison.
His son David Ellison is co-CEO of Skydance Corp., the parent company of CBS News. Bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan fell to second place on the list with $61 billion, down 23%, while Robin Zeng, chairman of CATL, the world's largest maker of batteries for electric vehicles, came in third, Hurun said. Hurun cross-checked its information with entrepreneurs, regulators, industry experts and others to compile the list, while acknowledging limitations.
Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, a new face on the list, ranked seventh. AI chipmaker Cambricon chair Chen Tianshi was 10th. "This year's gains were polarised - entrepreneurs in AI, semiconductors and robotics surged ahead, whilst those in consumer, real estate and traditional manufacturing saw their wealth shrink - a two-speed economy," Hoogewerf said.
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