- Zhang Yiming built a $16.2 billion fortune after founding ByteDance, the Chinese software developer behind TikTok.
- Despite being the 13th-wealthiest person in China, Zhang is extremely private and little is known about his personal life.
- TikTok's growing influence in the US has raised questions from US regulators.
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Meet Zhang Yiming, the secretive, 35-year-old Chinese billionaire behind TikTok who made over $12 billion in 2018
Visual China Group via Getty Images; Ruobing Su/Business Insider
Zhang, 35, lives in Beijing, China.
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The widespread popularity of TikTok has not just created a new generation of social media stars, it's also created a social media billionaire.
Zhang Yiming, the 35-year-old software engineer who founded the app's parent company, now has a net worth of $16.2 billion, Forbes estimates. Despite being the 13th-wealthiest person in China as ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , Zhang is extremely private and little is known about his personal life.
Keep reading to learn everything we know about Zhang Yiming.
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See Also:
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- The 'reclusive' billionaire who owns Coachella and part of the LA Lakers is also the richest man in Colorado here's how Philip Anschutz makes and spends his $11.4 billion fortune
SEE ALSO: 200 Hong Kong restaurants have permanently shuttered since the protests started 5 months ago and the city's richest billionaire just pledged $25 million to help local eateries
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