The owner of TikTok has become the richest person in China.

```html

The founder and owner of the video sharing site Douyin in China and its international version TikTok, Zhang Yiming, has taken the title of the richest person in China.

In the "China Rich List" published by the Hurun Research Institute, Zhang ranked first with a fortune of $49.3 billion. The 41-year-old Zhang, who developed both popular applications under the umbrella company ByteDance, which he founded in 2012, has risen to the top of the list for the first time.

THE COMPANY'S REVENUES CONTINUE TO RISE

Despite the U.S. Congress's decision to propose the divestment of TikTok, citing claims that ByteDance is connected to the Chinese government, the company's global revenues, which are approaching 200 million users worldwide, increased by 30% in the past year. Although Zhang transferred the management of the company in 2021, he still holds a significant stake, and his personal fortune has also increased by 43% in the past year.

"WATER KING" FELL TO SECOND PLACE

Cong Shanshan, the founder and owner of Nongfu Spring, a bottled natural spring water company that has been at the top of the list for the past three years, has fallen to second place with a fortune of $47.9 billion.

Due to public blame stemming from some disputes following his son's U.S. citizenship and the death of the owner of a rival water company, Cong's water business has suffered a significant blow to its revenues this year. The 71-year-old businessman’s fortune has decreased by 24% in the past year.

Cong had first topped the list in 2020, surpassing Jack Ma, the founder of the Chinese internet company Alibaba.

Pony Ma Huateng, the founder and owner of Tencent, which includes WeChat, a platform that performs many functions including messaging and electronic payments, ranked third on the list with a fortune of $44.4 billion. While the number of WeChat users exceeded 1.3 billion by the end of 2023, Ma's fortune increased by 13% compared to last year.

18 NAMES REACHED THE TOP OF THE LIST IN 26 YEARS

This year, 1,094 individuals were included in the list of those whose personal fortunes exceed 5 billion yuan (approximately $700 million), while the number of individuals on the list decreased by 12% compared to last year. The total wealth of those on the list reached $3 trillion, while the amount of wealth decreased by 10%.

Zhang Yiming became the 18th person to rise to the top of the list in China in the 26 years since the Hurun list was created. Rupert Hoogewerf, the president of the Hurun Institute and the lead researcher of the report, pointed out that only four names have risen to the richest position in the U.S. during the same period, emphasizing the dynamic nature of the Chinese economy. In the U.S., Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk have held the title of "the richest" over the past 26 years.