New Delhi: Mukesh Ambani has slipped to the third spot in Asia’s rich list after ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming moved ahead of him, according to the Bloomberg
Billionaires Index. The change came after a sharp rise in ByteDance’s valuation and stronger investor confidence around the Chinese company’s AI business.
As of June 3, 2026, Zhang’s net worth stood at $92.8 billion, or about ₹7.88 lakh crore, making him Asia’s second-richest person and China’s richest individual. Ambani’s fortune was listed at $86.9 billion, or about ₹7.38 lakh crore. Gautam Adani stayed at the top in Asia with $117.4 billion, or nearly ₹9.98 lakh crore.
TikTok billionaire moves ahead of Ambani
Zhang Yiming’s wealth has seen a huge rise since Bloomberg started tracking him in March 2019. At the time, he was worth $13 billion. His fortune has now grown more than seven times.
The big reason is ByteDance. The company owns TikTok and has become one of China’s most valuable private firms. Its AI chatbot Doubao has also become a major growth driver, with more than 300 million monthly users, as per the Bloomberg report.
ByteDance is now looking at AI in a much bigger way. Bloomberg reported earlier that the company is discussing spending as much as $70 billion this year to strengthen its AI push. A large part of this plan may be funded through the roughly $50 billion profit ByteDance made in 2025.
Why ByteDance valuation jumped
Bloomberg said Zhang’s wealth rose by more than $24 billion after it reviewed valuations from investors including BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, HSG and General Atlantic.
One key change came from the TikTok US issue. Bloomberg earlier used a 25 per cent risk discount on ByteDance’s valuation after the US House of Representatives passed a bill in March 2024 that could have banned TikTok in America if ByteDance did not sell the app.
That risk discount was cut to 10 per cent on June 2 after TikTok’s US operations were transferred to a consortium led by Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX.
Singapore-based tech analyst Ke Yan of DZT Research said, “Removing the US overhang unlocked the re-rating of the remaining ByteDance entity.” He added, “Even with the re-rating, the valuation still looks cheap on fundamentals.”
Asia’s richest list
The latest reshuffle puts three major business names at the top of Asia’s wealth table:
- Adani remains first with $117.4 billion
- Zhang is second with $92.8 billion
- Ambani is third with $86.9 billion
Asia’s billionaire race is no longer being shaped only by oil, ports, telecom or retail. AI apps, short-video platforms and private tech valuations are now changing the ranking very fast.
