Companies and people · Funding and deals · ByteDance
ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming became Asia’s richest person with $105 billion
This story was corrected after publication (Oct. 9, 2026). Details
Bloomberg data shows he passed Gautam Adani, with a fortune eight times what it was in March 2019. Behind the rise are the TikTok US joint venture that closed in January and the Doubao chatbot, which reached 382 million monthly active users in May. The company is expected to spend around $70 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026.
Sources
- Bloomberg, “TikTok Billionaire Overtakes Adani to Become Asia’s Richest Person”, (bloomberg.com)
- The Next Web, “Zhang Yiming overtakes Gautam Adani as Asia’s richest person on Bloomberg’s index”, (thenextweb.com)
- Bloomberg, “ByteDance Weighs Capex of As Much As $70 Billion in AI Push”, (bloomberg.com)
- TechNode, “QuestMobile: China’s AI-native apps reach 499 million monthly active users”, (technode.com)
Corrections and updates
- The version first posted on Instagram said the Doubao chatbot had passed “75 million monthly active users.” No source for that figure could be found; according to QuestMobile data, Doubao had 382 million monthly active users in May, and the text has been corrected.
About this story
This story was posted on Instagram by @jarrus.tech on Sept. 19, 2026.
Spotted an error in this story? [email protected] · Instagram
Short link: thejarrus.com/en/zhang-yiming
This story in Turkish: ByteDance’in kurucusu Zhang Yiming, 105 milyar dolarla Asya’nın en zengin insanı oldu
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