Business Standard

TikTok founder's $60 bn fortune places him among the world's richest people

38-year-old Zhang Yiming, is among the world's richest people -- a distinction that lately has carried increased risks in China

Zhang Yiming
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Zhang Yiming, chief executive officer and founder of Bytedance Ltd., poses for a photograph in Beijing, China, on Thursday, April 11, 2019. (Photo: Bloomberg)

Zheping Huang | Bloomberg
Just last year, the world’s most valuable startup, ByteDance Ltd., was being squeezed from all sides.

The Trump administration wanted the Chinese firm, which owns the ubiquitous TikTok video-sharing platform, to get rid of assets. Beijing was cracking down on tech businesses, and India had blacklisted some of its social-media apps.

For all the obstacles, ByteDance kept growing. Now its founder, 38-year-old Zhang Yiming, is among the world’s richest people -- a distinction that lately has carried increased risks in China.

Shares of the company trade in the private market at a valuation of more than $250 billion, people familiar

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