Beijing — Zhang Yiming, founder of ByteDance, has returned to the top of China’s richest list, driven by the company’s foray into the field of artificial intelligence.
The rankings released by the Hurun Research Institute on Tuesday reflect the rise of China’s high-tech industries, while other industries such as consumer industries and real estate are under pressure.
The institute, which has released the list annually since 1999, found that the number of people worth more than 5 billion yuan (about $750 million) reached a record 1,529, an increase of 6.6% from last year.
The number of billionaires in dollar net worth rose to 1,176, an increase of 155, 176 more than in the United States and slightly down from 1,185 in 2021.
Hurun Report chairman Hurun said in a statement that Zhang topped the list with $100 billion, an increase of 43%, “almost all achieved by artificial intelligence,” a figure that set a record high for China’s richest man. Hurun pointed out that the bit-beating Doubao is the most commonly used artificial intelligence assistant in China.
He said AI is the single largest engine of wealth on the list: 160 people (one in 10) now make money through AI.
ByteDance is the parent company of popular short film platforms TikTok and Douyin.
TikTok’s business in the United States is Transfer to new joint venture In January, TikTok nearly got banned in the U.S. due to years of national security-related concerns. ByteDance still holds a minority stake in TikTok’s U.S. unit, which is mostly made up of U.S. investors.
One of the investors in TikTok’s U.S. venture is Oracle, the technology company chaired by Larry Ellison. His son, David Ellison, is co-chief executive of Skydance Corp., the parent company of CBS News.
Hurun Report said bottled water giant Zhong Shanshan fell to second place on the list with revenue of US$61 billion, down 23%, while Robin Zeng, chairman of CATL, the world’s largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer, ranked third.
Hurun Report compiled the list by cross-checking information with entrepreneurs, regulators, industry experts and others, while acknowledging its limitations.
Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, is a new face on the list, ranking seventh. Chen Tianshi, chairman of AI chip manufacturer Cambrian, ranked tenth.
The list reflects China’s economic trends
Hurun said: “This year’s earnings are polarized – entrepreneurs in the fields of artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics have led significantly, while entrepreneurs in consumer goods, real estate and traditional manufacturing have seen their wealth shrink – the economy has shown double-speed growth.”
China said last week that its economy grew at an annual rate of 4.5% in the July-September quarter, driven by strong exports, moving closer to its official annual growth target for 2026. Chinese leaders have set a full-year growth target of 4.5% to 5%, down from last year’s 5% expansion.
While some industries are booming thanks to government support for technologies such as artificial intelligence and electric vehicles, small business owners say they are having a hard time as customers cut back on spending.
China’s domestic demand has been weighed down by a years-long slump in the property market.
The Hurun Rich List also reflects this.
Hurun said Lei Jun, chairman of Chinese smart consumer electronics maker Xiaomi, was the “biggest decliner” this year, with his wealth halved to $25.1 billion. Hurun said consumers’ wealth has also declined across the board.
“Today, for the first time ever, not a single mainland property developer remains in the top 100 – the only property company remaining at the top is the Hong Kong landlord family,” he said.