TikTok's founder is officially the richest man in China
This makes him the 14th richest person in the country in 28 years.
Since it launched in 2016, TikTok has been an absolute game-changer in the social media landscape. It quickly climbed the ranks to become the most downloaded app in the USA just two years after its debut and has held onto a top spot ever since.
This kind of success has had a major impact on its founder, Zhang Yiming, who is now the richest man in China. According to a BBC report, his net worth has skyrocketed to $49.3 billion, knocking Zhong Shanshan, the bottled water mogul behind Nongfu Spring, off his three-year throne.
Zhang’s financial leap is impressive, with a staggering 46% increase in his wealth compared to last year per the BBC. A lot of this growth can be traced back to ByteDance’s recent accomplishments, as shown in the Techloy infographic below. In 2023, the company reported a jaw-dropping $120 billion in revenue, a 50% increase from the previous year and it is only projected to go higher.
But, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for TikTok. The app has faced its fair share of international scrutiny, particularly around user privacy. Earlier this year, ByteDance had to contend with a bill aimed at TikTok due to these concerns, and similar issues have cropped up in the EU and other regions.
Despite these challenges, TikTok is still going strong, boasting a solid 1.56 billion monthly users. This places it as the fifth most-used social media app, trailing behind Instagram, which has around 2 billion active users, according to Adam Connell.
With its new product rolled out to attract more advertisers, we’ll likely see TikTok continue to climb the ranks. This could help Zhang compete with other billionaires around the world, making the app’s future even more exciting.
Louis Eriakha
