According to News 2024 Today, Zhang Yiming, founder of social media platform TikTok, has topped the list of China’s richest people for the first time. The 41-year-old entrepreneur’s fortune is $49.3 billion.

Zhang belongs to the Chinese generation, which is more internationally focused than its predecessors, Hurun said.

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, saw revenue grow 30 percent last year. The platform has some 200 million users in the U.S. alone.

Yiming replaces 70-year-old Zhong Shanshan, whose fortune is estimated at $47.9 billion. He dropped to second place in the ranking. Shanshan made his fortune with Nongfu Springs, which sells bottled water.

In third place is Ma Huateng, the founder of the technology group Tencent, with a fortune of 44.4 billion dollars.

According to the magazine, the number of Chinese dollar billionaires fell by 142 last year to 753. In 2021, there were still 1,185, a record. However, the sluggish Chinese economy and falling stock prices have also claimed victims here.