From TikTok to trillions! How this Chinese man overtook Mukesh Ambani in Asia’s wealth race

Zhang Yiming has surpassed Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s second-richest person, after a rise in ByteDance Ltd.’s valuation and further progress in the Chinese company’s artificial intelligence ambitions. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zhang’s net worth rose to $92.8 billion, while Ambani slipped to third place in Asia with a latest net worth of $86.9 billion.

Gautam Adani, the chairperson of the Adani Group, retained the top spot in Asia with a net worth of $117.4 billion.

Zhang went ahead of Ambani due to ByteDance’s higher valuation, the strength of TikTok and Doubao, and the easing of concerns around the company’s US business. Ambani’s latest net worth stood at $86.9 billion, according to the index. The latest rise in the TikTok founder's fortunes cemented his position as China’s richest person.

The ByteDance co-founder’s fortune has grown more than sevenfold since Bloomberg began tracking his wealth in March 2019, when it stood at $13 billion. The increase has come alongside the success of ByteDance’s video app TikTok and its Doubao AI chatbot, which has amassed more than 300 million monthly users to become China’s most popular chatbot. Earlier this year, ByteDance also transferred parts of its US business to American investors.

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"The jump in valuation reflects the company’s strong fundamentals and the success of its apps such as Doubao in China," Amy Lin, a Shanghai-based analyst at Capital Securities, was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. She added that developments in the US are not likely to affect the company’s valuation negatively.

Zhang first became China’s richest person in 2025. He was later overtaken before reclaiming the title earlier this year. His wealth jumped by more than $24 billion after Bloomberg analysed valuations from investors BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price Group Inc., along with those given by HSG and General Atlantic last month.

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ByteDance is China’s highest-profile private company. Its success with Doubao has prompted it to prepare to charge subscription fees, which is rare in a country where users have been unwilling to pay for online services. The company has long been seen as a leading candidate for an eventual initial public offering.

The company’s profile remained intact even after TikTok’s US operations were transferred to a consortium led by Oracle Corp., Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based investment company MGX. That brought to an end years of political and regulatory uncertainty over what critics said were potential national security vulnerabilities.

ByteDance is now betting heavily on artificial intelligence. Bloomberg News reported last month that the Beijing-based social media company is discussing spending as much as $70 billion this year to lead the Chinese AI market and challenge the top US players abroad. Much of that investment is expected to be funded by the roughly $50 billion in profit it earned in 2025.

"Removing the US overhang unlocked the re-rating of the remaining ByteDance entity," said Ke Yan, a Singapore-based tech analyst with DZT Research. "Even with the re-rating, the valuation still looks cheap on fundamentals."