Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance, has overtaken Gautam Adani as Asia’s richest person. His fortune has now crossed $105 billion, according to Bloomberg. The surge comes as artificial intelligence drives fresh wealth across the tech industry. Zhang, 43, has built most of his wealth through ByteDance, the company behind TikTok. His fortune has grown more than eightfold since Bloomberg valued it at $13 billion in March 2019.
Interestingly, Zhang’s wealth jumped by over $12 billion this month alone. Bloomberg reached the new figure after reviewing updated ByteDance valuations from investment firms. These firms include BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price. As a result, Zhang moved ahead of Adani on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Adani’s fortune once reached about $120 billion in June. However, his wealth has fallen in recent months amid market changes and a wider selloff.
Meanwhile, ByteDance continues to expand beyond TikTok. The company has pushed heavily into artificial intelligence with products such as Doubao and Seedance. Doubao is its AI chatbot, while Seedance focuses on video generation. Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia, said Zhang “plays his cards right.” He added that Zhang stayed focused on ByteDance’s AI investments. According to Su, ByteDance could also use its huge social-media data to develop stronger AI models.
Zhang’s rise also shows how quickly AI is changing the billionaire rankings. Traditional industries still create massive fortunes, but tech is moving fast. Adani built his fortune across energy, infrastructure and retail. Mukesh Ambani also remains a major figure through his diversified business empire. However, ByteDance has found new opportunities in the AI race. The company still faces strong competition in China’s AI market. It also faces ongoing geopolitical pressure around TikTok.
Even so, Zhang’s latest wealth surge highlights the growing financial power of artificial intelligence.
