65.5 billion USD! How Zhang Yiming became the richest man in China

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming's net worth has surpassed $65.5 billion, officially overtaking Zhong Yichang and Ma Huateng, becoming the richest individual in China.

What is behind this number?

The Transformation from Engineer to Tech Giant

In 2005, Zhang Yiming graduated from Nankai University with a degree in Software Engineering. Seven years later, he founded ByteDance. From that moment on, his life trajectory changed completely.

Today, ByteDance's product matrix has covered the globe—from the domestic Toutiao to the globally phenomenal app TikTok, and then to Douyin, Pico, and other diverse ecosystems. In 2024, the company's annual revenue reached 110 billion dollars.

The Logic Behind Wealth Growth

Interestingly, Zhang Yiming stepped down from the CEO position in 2021. Many people thought this was a withdrawal, but in reality, he was focusing on bigger things – concentrating on long-term strategy, organizational culture, and social responsibility.

What does this indicate? For a true entrepreneur, wealth is merely a result, not a goal.

Compare

From the data:

• Zhang Yiming's net worth: 65.5 billion USD
• ByteDance annual revenue: 110 billion USD
• Employee size: Over 1 million globally
• Influence: TikTok has over 800 million monthly active users.

This is not only a record of personal wealth but also reflects the global competitiveness of China's technology industry. An engineer who emerged from Longyan, Fujian, has built a trillion-dollar empire through innovation and execution.