Zhang Yiming Co-founder of ByteDance tech giant behind Tik tok and several social networking apps operating within China is officially China’s richest man.
With a network of 57.5 billion dollars according to Bloomberg Billionares index.
According to Blooomberg his parents worked as civil servants and his name is based on a Chinese proverb about “surprising everyone with a first attempt” according to South China Post.
Zhang graduated from Nankai University in 2005 where he was studying microelectronics before switching his major to software engineering and then proceeding to start his first job out of college at Kuxun a digital travel booking start-up,where he was in-charge of 40 to 50 people in his second year.
A stepping stone for him as he was able to learn valuable skills that he used to grow his company ByteDance.
However stepped down in 2021 as CEO according to Reuters he stated”The truth is I lack some of the skills that make an ideal manager”.
And even allegedly telling employees he’s “not very social and prefers engaging in solitary activities like reading, being online and listening to music”.
Adding that he would still be involved in the running of the company’s affairs but in a different role .
He was first declared a billionare in 2018 with a net-worth of 4 billion dollars and on the Hurun China rich list in 2024 he was listed as the country’s richest person with a net worth of 49.3 billion dollars.
Not much is known about Zhang’s personal life as he keeps a high level of privacy.
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