Colin Huang Zheng, the 44-year-old founder of PDD Holdings, and Zhang Yiming, the 41-year-old founder of ByteDance, are the richest tech entrepreneurs in China, according to a list published on Wednesday by Chinese magazine New Fortune.
Huang, whose wealth comes largely from the popularity of low-cost e-commerce platforms Pinduoduo and Temu, has a personal fortune of 425 billion yuan ($59 billion), followed by Zhang, whose 21 percent stake in TikTok’s parent company gives him a wealth gives personal wealth of 340 billion yuan.
The two young billionaires were followed in the rankings by Pony Ma Huateng, founder of Tencent Holdings, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holding, and NetEase founder William Ding Lei. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
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However, China’s richest man is Zhong Shanshan, active in the traditional mineral water sector, with a personal wealth of 456 billion yuan, according to the list.
This arranged photo shows the Pinduoduo logo on a smartphone. Photo: Shutterstock Images alt=The Pinduoduo logo can be seen on a smartphone in this arranged photo. Photo: Shutterstock Images>
The share price gain of Nasdaq-listed PDD Holdings allowed Huang – whose net worth almost doubled last year – to overtake Zhang as the richest tech founder. Pinduoduo is known for its cheap pricing strategy in China, with sales reaching 147.6 billion yuan in 2023, a significant increase of 90 percent from the previous year.
ByteDance’s Zhang fell below Huang on the rich list as China’s most valuable private company faces new pressure to sell the US operations of its flagship short video app TikTok to US investors or face ban from app stores in the country.
Few tech billionaires in China are celebrating joining the rich list, given Beijing’s crackdown on the tech sector in recent years and the ongoing Sino-US tech war. Huang and Zhang, who have both stepped down as chairman of their respective companies, have consciously stayed out of public view in recent years.
China’s internet services industry continues to generate billionaires. Xu Yangtian, the founder of fast fashion giant Shein, ranked 22nd with a personal wealth of 81 billion yuan, while Cai Haoyu, the 37-year-old co-founder of miHoYo, a gaming studio, ranked No. 26 with a personal wealth assets of 73.8 billion yuan.
However, China’s super-rich are dwarfed by their American technological counterparts. Tesla founder Elon Musk has a personal fortune of $209.8 billion, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is worth $204.3 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list on Thursday.
China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry and pharmaceutical sector are also represented on the billionaires list. Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, who only joined the EV industry this year, jumped onto the New Fortune rich list with a family wealth of 10.3 billion yuan, almost comparable to BYD founder Wang Chuanfu. Robin Zeng Shuqun, founder of the world’s largest battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, was listed as China’s seventh richest person, with a net worth of 168 billion yuan.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice covering China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP Facebook page Tweet Pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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