FX.co ★ Top 5 richest Chinese billionaires

Zhong Shanshan

Zhong holds on to the No. 1 richest in China, the spot he grabbed last year. He chairs bottled water and tea drink producer Nongfu Spring. The businessman managed to lead the ranking even in such difficult times for the country as water production had been given top priority by China’s government. This is the main reason why Zhong Shanshan incurred fewer losses compared to others. Over the year, his net worth decreased by only 5%. It now stands at $62.3 billion.

Zhang Yiming

Zhang Yining also retained his second place in the ranking of the richest people in China. He is the main founder of ByteDance, which operates the wildly popular social media app TikTok. According to the latest estimates, his fortune is almost $50 billion, 20% down from a year ago. Zhang Yiming faced losses because of the growing pressure on the tech sector from the Chinese government. As a result, the company had to postpone indefinitely the IPO of its startup TikTok due to strict supervision by the government.

Robin Tseng

The third place in the ranking is taken by Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) CEO Robin Tseng. This Chinese tycoon is a long-time business partner of Elon Musk. His company delivers lithium-ion batteries to Tesla factories, which are owned by an American billionaire. However, this year many of CATL's production facilities were shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The company suffered whopping losses, which affected the net worth of Robin Tseng. His fortune decreased by more than 40% to $28.9 billion.

Ma Huateng

Ma, the CEO of web media giant Tencent, comes fourth in the ranking. In 2022, his net worth plummeted by 53%, totaling $23.4 billion. The reason was the same - the strict antitrust regulation of the tech sector by the Chinese authorities. Against this background, Tencent shares have sunk by more than 40% since January.

Jack Ma

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, the largest e-commerce company in China, rounds the top 5. His business also fell prey to the tightening control over China's tech giants. In late 2020, China's State Administration for Market Regulation accused Alibaba of abusing its market dominance and launched a probe. The company is still dealing with the consequences of that investigation. In 2022, the fortune of the once richest and most successful IT businessman in China plunged by more than 50%. According to the latest estimates, it amounts to $20.6 billion.