ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has returned to the top of China’s wealth rankings, according to the 2026 Hurun Rich List released in Shanghai on Oct. 27. Hurun Research Institute said the 43-year-old’s fortune reached RMB 670 billion, making him China’s richest person for the second time and setting a new record for the country’s top-ranked wealth.
Zhang’s wealth rose by RMB 200 billion from a year earlier, or about 43%. The list drew attention not only because of the change at the top, but also because DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng entered the top 10 in his first appearance, while Tencent founder Pony Ma dropped out of the top three. Hurun’s own summary was blunt: artificial intelligence has become the biggest single engine of wealth creation in this year’s ranking.
Zhang Yiming’s fortune nears $100 billion
Hurun said the wealth calculation cutoff date was Sept. 1, 2026, using an exchange rate of $1 to RMB 6.72. On that basis, Zhang’s fortune was worth about $99.7 billion, the first time the wealth of China’s richest person has crossed RMB 600 billion.
According to Hurun, almost all of Zhang’s wealth comes from ByteDance, where he holds a stake of more than 20%. The firm valued ByteDance at about RMB 3.3 trillion, pointing to continued growth in Douyin, TikTok and the AI assistant Doubao. In Hurun’s framing, the market’s re-rating of ByteDance was driven by progress in its AI business.
The ranking also said Doubao is now the most-used AI product in China by user count. Zhang was the biggest wealth gainer on the entire list, with an increase of RMB 200 billion over the year.
Zhong Shanshan falls to second, Pony Ma slips to fourth
Last year’s top-ranked billionaire, Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan, moved down to second place. Hurun said the 72-year-old’s wealth fell by RMB 120 billion, or about 23%, to RMB 410 billion. It attributed the decline to a pullback in the share price of Wantai BioPharm, though Zhong still remains about RMB 70 billion richer than he was two years ago.
CATL’s Robin Zeng climbed to third with wealth of about RMB 385 billion, equivalent to roughly $57.3 billion in the English version of the ranking, up about 17% year over year. Pony Ma ranked fourth with about RMB 346 billion, or around $51.5 billion, down about 26% from a year earlier.
DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng debuts at No. 7
The strongest sense of reshuffling came from new entrants. Liang Wenfeng, the 41-year-old founder of DeepSeek, appeared on the list for the first time and ranked seventh with an estimated RMB 280 billion, or about $41.7 billion.
Cambricon founder Chen Tianshi entered the top 10 with about RMB 205 billion, ranking 10th. Hurun also noted new faces in the top 10 including Chen Jianhua and Fan Hongwei of Hengli, adding that entrepreneurs tied to “new quality productive forces” accounted for half of the top tier.
Hurun says this year’s list was defined by a reshuffle
Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Group, summed up the 2026 ranking in four Chinese characters that mean “reshuffle” and “refresh.” A total of 1,529 individuals on the list had personal wealth of at least RMB 5 billion, up by 95 from last year, or about 6.6%, a record high. Combined wealth reached RMB 32 trillion, up about 7%.
The gains were not evenly spread. About 785 people saw their wealth rise, while 911 recorded declines or no change. Hurun said wealth creation was highly concentrated: the 10 biggest gainers, including new entrants, contributed more than half of the list’s roughly RMB 2.1 trillion increase, mainly from AI and semiconductors.
AI and semiconductors dominated wealth creation
By sector, more than 160 people on the list — roughly one in 10 — derived their wealth from AI. In addition to Liang, founders linked to large language models and computing power, including Zhipu, MetaX and MiniMax, appeared on the list for the first time. The robotics sector accounted for nearly 80 people.
Consumer businesses and some traditional sectors were under pressure. Hurun said Xiaomi founder Lei Jun’s wealth fell by about RMB 157 billion, making him one of the biggest decliners by absolute amount.