2026 Hurun Rich List: Zhang Yiming Reclaims China's Richest Title with 670 Billion Yuan, Liang Wenfeng Debuts with 280 Billion Yuan

The "2026 Hurun Rich List" released on October 27 (with wealth calculated as of September 1, 2026) shows that ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming's wealth increased by 200 billion yuan year-on-year to 670 billion yuan, making him China's richest person for the second time and setting a new wealth record for China's richest person. DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, meanwhile, entered the list for the first time with 280 billion yuan, landing directly in seventh place.

Some saw their fortunes soar, while others saw theirs shrink. On the same list, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun's wealth fell by 157 billion yuan, Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanshan's shrank by 120 billion yuan, Tencent founder Ma Huateng's shrank by 119 billion yuan, and the family of Pop Mart founder Wang Ning also lost 94.5 billion yuan. The top ranks of the rich list are undergoing a round of reshuffling.

But growth in wealth does not mean companies have already earned profits of a comparable scale.

Even with the same hundreds of billions in net worth, some rely on the cash flow continuously generated by mature businesses, some depend on the capital market's pricing of future growth, and still others see their wealth rise and fall with share prices and corporate performance. What the wealth list records is not only who made more money over the past year, but also whose future the capital market is willing to pay a higher price for.

01. Where did the money of AI flow?

On the Hurun Rich List for 2019 and earlier, there were no entrepreneurs whose main business was AI. Seven years later, this group has exceeded 160 people, accounting for about one-tenth of all listees. Hurun calls AI the largest single wealth growth engine this year.

Judging from this year's list, the changes mainly occurred at three levels: the rankings of top entrepreneurs were rewritten, large-model and robotics founders appeared in batches, and hardware entrepreneurs in the computing power industrial chain saw their fortunes surge.

First, look at the changes in the rankings of top entrepreneurs.

Zhang Yiming is the entrepreneur whose wealth grew the most this year, increasing by 200 billion yuan in a year, and he has become China's richest person again with 670 billion yuan.

ByteDance is not listed, and his net worth is calculated based on the company's valuation and his shareholding ratio. Hurun gives a valuation of about 3.3 trillion yuan, with Zhang Yiming holding more than 20%. If the methodology remains unchanged, his 470 billion yuan net worth last year corresponded to a valuation of about 2.3 trillion yuan, meaning ByteDance's valuation increased by about 1 trillion yuan in a year.

External transactions also provide a reference. In February this year, Reuters reported that General Atlantic planned to sell part of its ByteDance shares, corresponding to a valuation of $550 billion. However, the transaction was not confirmed as completed at the time, and the quotation for a minority stake does not equal the realizable value of the entire company.

What is special about ByteDance is that it already has mature cash flow and also has new growth expectations brought by AI. Businesses such as Douyin and TikTok support the existing valuation, while AI businesses such as Doubao make the capital market willing to pay a higher price for its future.

This also puts Zhang Yiming at a distance from other internet giants.

This year, Tencent founder Ma Huateng's wealth decreased by 119 billion yuan, placing him fourth with 346 billion yuan; NetEase's Ding Lei decreased by 45 billion yuan, placing him eighth with 275 billion yuan; Pinduoduo's Huang Zheng decreased by 112 billion yuan, falling out of the top ten to 11th place with 202 billion yuan. Xiaomi's Lei Jun saw his wealth shrink by 157 billion yuan, the largest decline this year, from 326 billion yuan last year to 169 billion yuan.

A similar pullback also occurred in the consumer industry. Zhong Shanshan, founder of Nongfu Spring, who had topped the list four times, saw his wealth decrease by 120 billion yuan and fell to second place with 410 billion yuan. Nongfu Spring's packaged drinking water business remains solid, but the share price pullback of Wantai Biological, in which Zhong Shanshan holds shares, dragged down his overall wealth. The wealth of Pop Mart's Wang Ning family also decreased by 94.5 billion yuan.

Compared with internet giants, the changes brought by large-model companies are more direct: a group of entrepreneurs who had not previously appeared on the rich list have begun to hold net worth of tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of yuan.

The most closely watched is DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, who ranked seventh with 280 billion yuan on his first appearance.

DeepSeek is not listed and rarely discloses operating data. In July this year, an investment announcement by Kairun Co. provided a window to observe its valuation. Based on the investment amount and indirect shareholding ratio disclosed in the announcement, DeepSeek's implied valuation at that time was about 350.9 billion yuan. In October, some media reported that DeepSeek was advancing a second round of financing, planning to raise about 100 billion yuan at a pre-money valuation of about 500 billion yuan. However, the relevant transaction has not yet been officially confirmed by DeepSeek.

But a company valuation of 500 billion yuan cannot directly explain Liang Wenfeng's personal net worth of 280 billion yuan. Public information can provide some reference. In April this year, after DeepSeek's business registration information changed, according to public reports at the time, Liang Wenfeng held about 84.29% of the company's equity through direct and indirect means. But afterward DeepSeek brought in external investors, and the equity structure changed. In addition, the two sets of valuations correspond to different times and statistical methodologies, making it difficult for outsiders to accurately reconstruct Hurun's calculation of Liang Wenfeng's personal wealth.

In addition, in Kairun Co.'s July announcement, DeepSeek's assets, revenue, net profit and other data were also exempted from disclosure on the grounds of involving trade secrets. Hurun once explained that one reason Liang Wenfeng was not included last year was that he had said he would not pursue commercialization. Now, DeepSeek has begun to explore commercialization, and its profitability remains to be verified, but the capital market has already begun to pay a high price for the technological capability it represents.

Besides Liang Wenfeng, DeepSeek's Zheng Dawei, Li Huan and Chen Zhe also made the list for the first time. Zhipu chairman Liu Debing and founder Tang Jie hold wealth of 39.5 billion yuan and 27.5 billion yuan respectively, while MiniMax founder Yan Junjie is worth 22.5 billion yuan. Moonshot AI founder Yang Zhilin became the wealthiest self-made entrant under 35.

Another group of new faces comes from the robotics industry.

Nearly 80 entrepreneurs in the robotics field made the list this year. Among them, Unitree Technology's Wang Xingxing debuted with 69.5 billion yuan, second only to Liang Wenfeng among new entrants. Deng Taihua of AgiBot, Guo Yandong of Zhixingfang, and Zhou Yong of Lingxin Qiaoshou also entered the list for the first time.

Large models and the robotics industry share one thing in common: technology is developing rapidly and market space is widely viewed with optimism, but the business models and profitability of many companies have yet to be fully validated. By contrast, wealth growth in the computing power supply chain has more direct business support.

In the chip sector, Cambricon's Chen Tianshi saw his wealth increase by 25 billion yuan to 205 billion yuan, entering the top ten for the first time. MetaX's Chen Weiliang debuted on the list with 37.5 billion yuan. TSMC's Morris Chang saw his wealth grow 64%, and MediaTek's Tsai Ming-kai grew 151%.

Gains in the data center supply chain are even more astonishing. The wealth of the Lin Congji family of King Slide Technology increased by 104 billion yuan, a rise of 335%. The company produces precision slide rails for servers. Wang Weixiu and his son Wang Xiaodong of Zhongji Innolight saw their wealth increase by 82 billion yuan; the company produces optical modules used for high-speed data transmission in data centers. The wealth of the Cheng Chonghua family of Delta Electronics grew 126%; the company is an important supplier of power supplies for AI servers.

Not all AI founders are getting richer. This year, 167 entrepreneurs fell off the list, including Huang Wei of Unisound and Dai Wenyuan and Wu Ming, the couple behind 4Paradigm. Both companies were born in the previous AI startup boom, and their founders dropped off mainly because of stock price pullbacks.

During the previous AI boom, these companies were also seen as beneficiaries of technological change. But entering a new round of competition, the market has not continued to lift their valuations. This shows that the capital market is willing to pay a premium for AI, but the technology path, competitive position and ability to deliver on commercialization can all affect how much wealth a company ultimately captures.

The computing power supply chain is the first to show up in revenue and profit. The capital expenditure of tech giants is turning into orders and revenue for chip, optical module and server component manufacturers. They earn money during the AI buildout phase, and their wealth growth is most directly tied to current operating performance.

Further back are large-model and robotics startups. They may sit at the core of technological change, but they may not yet have found a stable way to make money. Their valuations are built more on judgments about future market size, technological barriers and the competitive landscape.

02. Wealth has risen, but has the money really been made?

Hurun values entrepreneurs' wealth based on stock prices and financing prices. But whether these prices can hold ultimately depends on companies' revenue, profit and cash flow.

Looking at the books of the companies behind several entrepreneurs whose wealth surged this year, three situations emerge: hardware manufacturers' profits have soared, but cash has not increased in tandem; mature platforms' revenue is still growing, but profits are coming under pressure; and some large-model startups have not even formally disclosed basic operating data.

First, the hardware manufacturers.

Zhongji Innolight, led by Wang Weixiu and his son, had revenue of 41.778 billion yuan in the first half of this year, up 182.49% year on year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 13.651 billion yuan, up 241.70%. But net operating cash flow in the same period was only 1.8 billion yuan, down 44.08% year on year, equivalent to just 13.2% of net profit. The company explained that to meet order delivery and subsequent production needs, it increased raw material procurement and stockpiled inventory in advance.

Chen Tianshi's Cambricon shows a similar pattern. Net profit attributable to shareholders in the first three quarters was 3.715 billion yuan, but net operating cash flow was only 228 million yuan. Inventory in the same period rose from 4.944 billion yuan at the end of last year to 11.665 billion yuan, accounting for 52.2% of total assets.

These figures do not directly show that demand is deteriorating. For fast-growing hardware companies, stockpiling in advance is part of expansion. Cambricon's operating cash flow in the first three quarters has also turned positive from negative. But they reflect a problem: rapid growth in revenue and profit does not mean cash will flow into the company at the same pace.

To meet demand, companies need to procure raw materials in advance and increase inventory. If orders keep growing, these inputs can gradually turn into revenue; once customers delay purchases, inventory and the funds invested upfront may become a burden. Therefore, what is more worth watching than the current profit growth rate is how much money downstream customers are still willing to spend.

For now, global AI infrastructure investment is still growing. Microsoft's capital expenditure for the quarter ended June 30 reached $41 billion. For hardware suppliers, these investments mean orders. But for buyers such as Microsoft, the chips and servers they buy will still be depreciated gradually over the coming years. How much revenue the equipment can generate and when costs can be recovered is another calculation.

ByteDance is also an important participant in this round of computing power investment.

According to The Information, ByteDance's 2025 revenue was about $200 billion, up 29% year on year; net profit was about $42 billion, up 27%. But by the first half of 2026, something had changed. Revenue grew about 30% year on year, and net profit was about $20 billion, but it posted a single-digit year-on-year decline.

Revenue is still growing rapidly, but profit has not increased in tandem. Expanded investment in new businesses is one possible contributing factor. According to the South China Morning Post, ByteDance's AI capital expenditure budget for 2026 has been raised from 160 billion yuan to 200 billion yuan, roughly equivalent to 70% of its 2025 net profit. In September, ByteDance also secured a $29.6 billion syndicated loan. People familiar with the matter expect that a considerable portion of it will be used for AI-related projects.

ByteDance's advantage is that mature businesses such as Douyin and TikTok are still generating substantial revenue, providing funding support for AI investment. Even if new businesses are difficult to make profitable in the short term, it has the ability to keep investing. But having the ability to invest does not mean it has already reaped returns. At present, ByteDance has not separately disclosed the revenue, profit and cash flow of AI businesses such as Doubao and Volcano Engine. The outside world can see product expansion and computing power investment, but cannot accurately calculate how much direct return these investments have brought.

Tencent's financial report provides a reference. In the second quarter of this year, Tencent's capital expenditure rose 176% year on year to 52.8 billion yuan; free cash flow was negative 13.8 billion yuan. The company explained that this included large prepayments for AI computing power procurement, and excluding this factor, free cash flow was positive 37.6 billion yuan. Even with the support of mature businesses, large-scale investment in AI will tie up capital.

By contrast, DeepSeek faces a different kind of uncertainty.

ByteDance at least still has overall revenue and profit data for observation. DeepSeek's books are less transparent; it has not yet formally disclosed complete revenue, profit and cash flow data, but some signs of commercialization have emerged.

In September, The Information cited people familiar with the matter as saying that DeepSeek's annualized revenue run rate had reached about $1 billion, double the level of a few months earlier. Part of this growth came from API price increases. The outlet previously also reported that DeepSeek's API gross margin reached 82.9% in the first seven months of this year. However, these figures have not been officially confirmed by the company. Annualized revenue is only an annualized indicator extrapolated from recent revenue; it is neither equal to actual full-year revenue nor does it indicate the company's profitability. For DeepSeek, the question is no longer entirely whether anyone is willing to pay, but whether growing revenue can cover model training, inference and R&D costs.

Aswath Damodaran, a professor of finance at New York University, discussed the valuation of AI companies in a recent article. He argued that even with rapid revenue growth, revenue multiples cannot simply replace judgment about a company's intrinsic value; the key remains whether revenue can be converted into profit and cash flow.

When tech giants purchase equipment, hardware suppliers have the opportunity to recognize revenue; the buyers, in turn, must bear depreciation, electricity and operations and maintenance costs over the following years, and gradually recover their investment through cloud services, models and applications. Part of the money hardware manufacturers have already earned corresponds to costs that tech giants will still have to bear in the coming years.

Tech giants are still increasing investment, and hardware suppliers are still delivering high-speed growth results. But investment cannot forever be judged only by scale; companies ultimately need to answer whether the revenue created by this computing power can cover the cost of building and using it.

The former question has supported this round of investment expansion; the latter question may affect the rankings on the next rich list.

This article comes from the WeChat public account "AIX Finance", author: Chen Dan, editor: Wei Jia, published by 36Kr with authorization.