TikTok Billionaire Zhang Yiming Overtakes India's Gautam Adani To Become Asia's Richest Person

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has become Asia's wealthiest individual for the first time, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as his fortune tied to artificial intelligence (AI) and short-video platforms pulls ahead of industrial magnates in the region. He overtakes Gautam Adani who was sitting at the top position untill now.

Zhang's net worth crosses $105 billion

Bloomberg reports that Zhang, 43, is now worth more than $105 billion, enough to push him past Indian conglomerate chief Gautam Adani atop the region's rich list. The milestone caps a sharp turnaround for the ByteDance co-founder, whose wealth had been clouded for years by regulatory uncertainty over TikTok's future in the US.

A comeback after the US ownership fight

The report noted that Zhang's rise comes after ByteDance navigated a prolonged standoff with US authorities that had threatened to force a shutdown of TikTok in the country. That fight was resolved in January 2026, when ByteDance struck a deal to set up a US joint venture with Oracle and Silver Lake, removing a major overhang on the company's valuation.

Wealth has grown eightfold since 2019

According to the report, Zhang's fortune has risen roughly eightfold from the $13 billion recorded when it began tracking his wealth in March 2019. The index attributed the broader shift to AI-linked fortunes outpacing wealth built on more traditional industries across Asia.

Adani slips from the top spot

Adani, the Indian ports-to-power tycoon who had held the region's top ranking, has now been overtaken, per Bloomberg's tracking. The report frames the swap as symbolic of a wider trend, with technology and AI wealth increasingly eclipsing infrastructure and commodities fortunes among Asia's billionaire class.