Hurun Rich List: ByteDance Founder Zhang Yiming Tops Ranking with 670 Billion Yuan; DeepSeek's Liang Wenfeng Enters Top Ten
AI drives structural changes in China's rich list as Zhang Yiming sets a record and DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng rises rapidly.
The Hurun Research Institute released the '2026 Hurun Rich List' on October 27, 2026. The ranking shows that driven by progress in its AI business and higher company valuations, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming saw his wealth increase by 200 billion yuan, reaching 670 billion yuan to become China's richest person for the second time and setting a new record for the top spot. Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan fell to second place with 410 billion yuan.
Notably, among the 263 newcomers to the list, the 'Rookie of the Year' is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, who entered at seventh place with a wealth of 280 billion yuan on his first appearance, reflecting the rapid accumulation of personal wealth driven by the AI large model boom. Additionally, Wang Xingxing of Unitree Robotics, Wang Zhiyong of HKC, and Zhipu AI founders Liu Debing and Tang Jie also ranked highly among the new entrants.
In terms of industry distribution, this year 10.4% of the listed entrepreneurs are involved in the AI sector with AI as their primary direction, whereas no entrepreneurs with AI as their main business appeared on lists prior to 2019. This data indicates that AI has become one of the core drivers of wealth growth for China's top entrepreneurs.