Zhang Yiming has reclaimed the title of China’s richest person, according to the latest Hurun ranking, with an estimated $100 billion fortune — a 43% jump that puts ByteDance’s AI ambitions at the centre of the story.¹

The ranking, released Tuesday, places Zhang ahead of bottled-water tycoon Zhong Shanshan, whose wealth fell 23% to $61 billion, and CATL chairman Robin Zeng. Hurun attributed Zhang’s rise largely to ByteDance’s push into artificial intelligence, an assessment echoed in coverage of the list’s broader finding: high-tech wealth is climbing while consumer and real-estate fortunes are under pressure.²

Hurun chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said Zhang’s gain was “almost all of it on the back of AI,” pointing to Doubao, ByteDance’s AI assistant, as China’s most-used. He called AI “the biggest single wealth engine on this list,” saying 160 Hurun-listed entrepreneurs now derive their fortunes from the sector.¹

The contrast is stark. China counted a record 1,529 people worth more than 5 billion yuan, while its dollar-billionaire tally rose to 1,176 — 176 more than in the United States. Yet the gains were concentrated in AI, semiconductors and robotics. DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng debuted at seventh place, while Cambricon chairman Chen Tianshi reached 10th.¹

Meanwhile, the weaker side of the economy kept losing ground. Xiaomi chairman Lei Jun was Hurun’s “biggest faller,” with wealth halved to $25.1 billion, and no mainland property developer remained in the top 100 for the first time. Hoogewerf’s verdict was blunt: a “two-speed economy” in which tech entrepreneurs surge ahead as consumer, property and traditional manufacturing wealth shrinks.¹