2026 Hurun Rich List: Zhang Yiming Tops with 670 Billion Yuan, DeepSeek's Liang Wenfeng Ranks Seventh with 280 Billion Yuan

On October 27, the 2026 Hurun Rich List was released. The list featured 263 newly minted billionaires, with 1,529 people in total making the list, the highest in its 28-year history. The total wealth of the listed entrepreneurs reached 32 trillion yuan, up 7% year on year.

Compared with previous years, the most noteworthy change this year came from the top tier of newcomers. The newly listed hard-tech entrepreneurs are concentrated in high-growth tracks such as AI large models, AI chips, humanoid robots, commercial space, and semiconductor displays. Representative figures include DeepSeek's Liang Wenfeng, Unitree Robotics' Wang Xingxing, HKC's Wang Zhiyong, Zhipu AI's Liu Debing and Tang Jie, MetaX's Chen Weiliang, MiniMax's Yan Junjie, and Zhang Changwu, Kang Yonglai, and Yang Yiqiang in the commercial space track. New wealth no longer comes mainly from consumption, real estate, or traditional internet platforms, but from technological breakthroughs, industrial valuation re-rating, and capital market pricing.

The most notable change in this year's list is the change at the top. Zhang Yiming, the 43-year-old founder of ByteDance, saw his wealth grow by 200 billion yuan, becoming China's richest person for the second time with 670 billion yuan and setting a new record for the wealth of China's richest person. His wealth growth was mainly driven by progress in AI business that pushed the company's valuation further higher; ByteDance's current valuation has reached 3.3 trillion yuan.

The top ten welcomed three new faces: Hengli Group's Chen Jianhua and Fan Hongwei couple, DeepSeek's Liang Wenfeng, and Cambricon's Chen Tianshi, with hard-tech attributes particularly prominent.

Liang Wenfeng is the most closely watched newcomer on this year's list. The 41-year-old founder of DeepSeek debuted on the list with 280 billion yuan, ranking seventh overall and first among newcomers. DeepSeek quickly gained market attention with its open-source large model approach, and the company's valuation has climbed to 500 billion yuan. Liang Wenfeng's inclusion on the list is of landmark significance: AI large models have moved from a technology narrative into the stage of wealth realization, and open-source models, computing power ecosystems, and industrial applications are being re-priced by the capital market.

Chen Tianshi entered tenth place with 205 billion yuan, up 25 billion yuan from the previous year. As a representative domestic AI chip company, Cambricon benefited from the explosive growth in AI computing demand, and its market value rose sharply, pushing its founder's wealth into the top ten. This shows that the AI wealth chain is not only at the algorithm layer, but is also extending rapidly across chips, computing infrastructure, and the semiconductor industry chain.

Hengli Group's Chen Jianhua and Fan Hongwei couple ranked sixth with 302 billion yuan, with wealth growing by 112 billion yuan. Hengli has expanded from traditional chemical fiber business into refining and chemical integration, new materials, and high-end shipbuilding equipment. Relying on orders for very large crude carriers, it has secured a foothold in the global shipbuilding market, and the boom in its shipbuilding business has driven a substantial increase in wealth, representing how traditional leaders seize cyclical dividends through industrial upgrading.

Hard tech listed in batches

Among the new entrants, the hard-tech track also dominates. Unitree Robotics founder Wang Xingxing has wealth of 69.5 billion yuan, ranking second among newcomers, corresponding to 78th overall by wealth scale. The 36-year-old Wang Xingxing represents a new wealth force in the humanoid robot track. Unitree Robotics listed on the STAR Market this year, and its market value once surged to 440 billion yuan on the first day of trading. Based on the list's September 1 measurement date, Wang Xingxing's corresponding wealth fell back to 69.5 billion yuan. Nearly 80 entrepreneurs in the robotics track made the list this year, and DJI's Wang Tao remains the wealthiest in the track with 110 billion yuan.

HKC founder Wang Zhiyong has wealth of 64.5 billion yuan, ranking third among newcomers, corresponding to 84th overall by wealth scale. The 56-year-old Wang Zhiyong represents the semiconductor display panel sector. As one of China's important display panel companies, HKC's inclusion on the list shows that midstream hardware segments such as semiconductor displays and optoelectronic manufacturing still occupy an important position in the wealth landscape.

Several other entrepreneurs from the AI industry echelon also made the list. Zhipu AI's Liu Debing has wealth of 39.5 billion yuan, Zhipu AI's Tang Jie 27.5 billion yuan, and MiniMax's Yan Junjie 22.5 billion yuan; all three are rooted in large-model foundation models and algorithm research and development. MetaX's Chen Weiliang has wealth of 37.5 billion yuan and focuses on AI GPU chip development, providing the computing foundation for large models. Together, these new faces form the wealth map of the AI industry's entrepreneurial group. From foundation models and algorithm research to computing chips and application ecosystems, AI is developing the capacity to create wealth at scale.

New faces in commercial space make a concentrated appearance

In this year's Hurun Rich List, commercial space is one of the fields where hard-tech newcomers are concentrated. The Hurun Research Institute specifically noted that three rocket founders debuted on the list in the commercial space track: Blue Arrow Aerospace's Zhang Changwu, Space Pioneer's Kang Yonglai, and CAS Space's Yang Yiqiang.

Zhang Changwu, 43, founded Blue Arrow Aerospace in 2015. The company's core product, Zhuque-3, adopts a liquid oxygen methane, stainless steel rocket body, and landing-leg vertical recovery route. At 7:35 Beijing time on August 19, 2026, the Zhuque-3 Y2 rocket completed its orbital launch, and at around 7:43 the first stage successfully soft-landed at the Gansu Minqin landing site. This was China's first land recovery of the first stage of an orbital-class launch vehicle, and also the first time a Chinese private rocket completed the full orbital launch plus recovery process. Blue Arrow Aerospace's STAR Market IPO is currently suspended due to a financial report update, with planned fundraising of 7.5 billion yuan. The company had revenue of 52.09 million yuan in 2025 and a net loss of 1.711 billion yuan, and is expected to become profitable no earlier than 2029.

Kang Yonglai formerly served as director of the launch vehicle overall design office and deputy chief designer of a model at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and founded Space Pioneer in 2019. The company focuses on medium- and large-sized liquid launch vehicles, and its Tianlong-2 achieved a successful maiden flight in 2023. Space Pioneer was previously valued at about 22.5 billion yuan. According to reports by Taibo Network and other media in July 2026, its valuation is expected to exceed 30 billion yuan after a new round of financing is completed.

Yang Yiqiang formerly served as the first administrative chief director of China's first air-launched launch vehicle at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, and later conducted research on reusable launch vehicles within the system of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. CAS Space is the first mixed-ownership commercial rocket company in China, with products including the Lijian series of rockets. CAS Space's revenue in 2025 was approximately 277 million yuan, a relatively high revenue scale among private rocket companies. In 2024 and 2025, its market share in the private commercial rocket market, calculated by payload mass launched, was approximately 50% and 63%, respectively. The company's STAR Market IPO application is likewise in a suspended state, with the reason for suspension being a financial report update; it plans to raise 4.18 billion yuan, and its most recent external equity financing had a post-investment valuation of approximately 15 billion yuan.

From the perspective of industry structure, AI has become the largest single wealth growth engine on this year's list. According to statistics from the Hurun Research Institute, among the listed entrepreneurs, those with AI as their leading direction account for 10.4%; before 2019, there were almost no list entrants whose main business was AI. The semiconductor industry's share rose to 6.9%, making it one of the fastest-growing industries. The robotics sector accounts for 4.9%, and high-end equipment for 6.4%.

At the same time, wealth in traditional consumption and internet platforms has generally pulled back. Zhong Shanshan's wealth shrank by 120 billion yuan, Tencent's Ma Huateng saw his wealth decrease by 119 billion yuan, and Xiaomi's Lei Jun fell back by 157 billion yuan. This does not mean these companies have lost value; rather, it shows that the driving force of wealth growth is switching. The previous expansion cycle, dominated by mobile internet, new consumption and the platform economy, is leveling off, and a new technological cycle dominated by AI, computing power, robotics, semiconductors and commercial space is beginning to dominate wealth distribution.

This list sends a very clear signal. The registration-based IPO system, the industrialization of hard tech and global AI competition are jointly reshaping the wealth landscape of Chinese entrepreneurs. Zhang Yiming leads the entire list with 670 billion yuan, and a group of hard-tech entrepreneurs have concentratedly entered the list, covering multiple directions including AI large models, humanoid robots, semiconductor displays, AI chips and commercial space. Liang Wenfeng leads this group of new forces with seventh place on the overall list; Wang Xingxing and Wang Zhirong fall within the top 100, while the remaining hard-tech newcomers made the list but did not enter the top 100. Whether they can enter the upper ranks of the wealth list in the future depends not only on company scale, but also on whether they master core technologies, whether they have sustained commercialization capabilities, and whether they can establish pricing power in the global industrial chain.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Rongzhong Finance" (ID: thecapital), author: Dai Xianchao, published by 36Kr with authorization.