Mark Zuckerberg, Zhang Yiming lead world’s richest under-40s in Hurun’s annual ranking of billionaires

Kuaishou’s IPO debut in Hong Kong catapulted founders Su Hua and Cheng Yixiao to third and fourth spots in the latest Hurun ranking

Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth rose by 20 per cent to US$101 billion last year, almost double the net worth of second-placed Zhang Yiming of ByteDance

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ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is the richest Chinese billionaire under 40 in Hurun list. Photo: imagineChina

Published: 10:55am, 13 Apr 2021Updated: 1:26pm, 13 Apr 2021

Tech and social media moguls from the US and China dominated the list of the world’s wealthiest self-made billionaires who are under 40 years old, according to the 10th edition of the ranking produced by Hurun Research Institute.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 36, topped the list for the sixth straight year, with his net worth increasing 20 per cent over the past 12 months to US$101 billion. Zhang Yiming, the 38-year old founder of ByteDance, which operates short-video app sensation TikTok, came in second after boosting his wealth by 291 per cent to US$54 billion.

The duo led a list of 79 self-made billionaire-entrepreneurs under the age of 40 globally, 26 more than last year. Their combined wealth rose 79 per cent last year to 3.4 trillion yuan (US$519.3 billion), according to Hurun. That is almost equivalent in size to the economy of China’s capital, at 3.6 trillion yuan.

Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth increased 20 per cent to US$101 billion, according to Hurun. The company’s shares have risen 110 per cent from March 2020’s low. Photo: AFP

Much of the wealth came on the back of a global stock market rally as prices surged in the US and broader Asian markets. The S&P 500 Index rose 84.5 per cent through April 12, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 69 per cent from their pandemic-hit lows on March 23 last year, generating an extra US$27.5 trillion in equity wealth.

The number of the world’s ultra-wealthy – those with net worth exceeding US$30 million excluding their primary residence – rose in 2020, according to a report by Knight Frank in March. China saw the largest increase of 16 per cent.

The US, however, is likely to remain the country with the most wealthy individuals, with its current population of more than 180,000 forecast to grow by 24 per cent in the next five years, Knight Frank said.

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