Ex-Microsoft techie—with $65B net worth—is now China's richest person
What's the story
Zhang Yiming, the co-founder and former CEO of ByteDance, has been crowned the richest person in China by Forbes. His wealth is estimated at a staggering $65.5 billion. At 41, Zhang owns a whopping 21% stake in ByteDance, the privately-owned tech giant behind TikTok and other popular apps such as Douyin and Toutiao.
AI focus
Zhang's role in ByteDance's AI strategy
Although Zhang stepped down as ByteDance's chairman and CEO in 2021, he remains a key player in the company's artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. Under his leadership, ByteDance has been laser-focused on building artificial general intelligence (AGI), or AI that equals or exceeds human intelligence. He has been key in attracting top-tier AI talent for the company, reportedly offering over $1.4 million annually to lure a leading engineer from a competitor.
Entrepreneurial path
Zhang's journey from software engineer to billionaire
Zhang founded ByteDance in 2012 from a humble four-bedroom apartment in Beijing. He envisioned using big data and machine learning to customize content according to user preferences. The idea for ByteDance came to him when he saw fewer people reading newspapers on the subway, prompting him to understand that phones would be the primary medium for information dissemination and personalization would be the key.
Background
Zhang's early career and education
Zhang studied software engineering at Tianjin's Nankai University, where he earned extra money by fixing computers for other students and setting up websites. After graduating, he joined Microsoft but left after six months because he was "bored." He then launched a real estate platform before establishing ByteDance. His journey from a young software engineer to one of the world's richest individuals is a testament to his entrepreneurial spirit and vision for technology-driven content curation.