by CHEN Xiaotong

ByteDance founder ZHANG Yiming has become Asia's richest person for the first time, with his net worth exceeding US$105 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The 43-year-old has overtaken Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, marking another sharp rise in the fortune of the entrepreneur behind TikTok parent ByteDance.

Bloomberg first estimated Zhang's wealth at US$13 billion in March 2019. His current fortune is more than eight times that level.

The increase comes as privately held ByteDance continues to expand beyond its highly profitable social media businesses into artificial intelligence. Its products include Doubao, one of China's most widely used AI assistants, and Seedance, its video-generation model.

Zhang had already emerged as one of China's wealthiest entrepreneurs in recent years. The 2024 Hurun China Rich List estimated his fortune at RMB350 billion (US$49 billion at the time), putting him at the top of its ranking for the first time.

Different billionaire rankings can produce substantially different estimates because ByteDance is not publicly listed and its valuation must be inferred from private transactions and other data. Forbes, for example, estimated Zhang's real-time net worth at US$84 billion on September 16, placing him 25th globally.

Zhang founded ByteDance in 2012 and built the company around recommendation algorithms that powered products including Toutiao, Douyin and later TikTok.

He stepped down as ByteDance chief executive in 2021, handing the position to co-founder LIANG Rubo, and later relinquished his role as chairman. Zhang has since largely stayed out of the public spotlight while remaining involved in longer-term technology and strategy discussions.

His renewed involvement has become particularly visible around artificial intelligence. Chinese media reported in August that Zhang had urged ByteDance's AI teams to prioritize long-term fundamental model development rather than short-term gains in model rankings, as competition among Chinese developers intensified.

ByteDance has become one of China's most aggressive investors in generative AI, with Doubao emerging as a leading consumer AI product. Forbes, citing QuestMobile, said Doubao had 345 million monthly active users in the first quarter of 2026.

Zhang has also expanded his philanthropic activities. In July, he donated another RMB300 million to a charitable fund in his hometown of Longyan, Fujian province, taking his cumulative contributions to the fund to RMB1 billion, according to the Longyan education authorities.