Zhang Yiming, the founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, tops Fortune China’s young business leaders index for third year running

  • Zhang, 38, has built ByteDance up to a value of almost US$400 billion in the private market over nine years
  • Su Hua, the 39-year-old co-founder of Kuaishou, known as Kwai overseas and a rival to Douyin in China, took second spot

Zhang Yiming (right) CEO of ByteDance, attends the opening ceremony of the 5th World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang Province. Photo: AP

Zhang Yiming, the 38-year-old founder of TikTok owner ByteDance, has topped a list of Chinese business leaders younger than 40 for the third consecutive year.

Zhang took the top spot in the 2021 list of the 40 most successful business leaders in China under 40 years old, followed by Su Hua, chief executive of rival video app Kuaishou, and Cheng Wei, the founder of ride-hailing giant Didi. The list is published annually by the Chinese version of Fortune magazine.

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