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Meet Zhang Yiming, the secretive, 35-year-old Chinese billionaire behind TikTok who made over $12 billion in 2018

Visual China Group via Getty Images; Ruobing Su/Business Insider

Zhang, 35, lives in Beijing, China.
  • Zhang Yiming built a $16.2 billion fortune after founding ByteDance, the Chinese software developer behind TikTok.
  • Despite being the 13th-wealthiest person in China, Zhang is extremely private and little is known about his personal life.
  • TikTok's growing influence in the US has raised questions from US regulators.
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The widespread popularity of TikTok has not just created a new generation of social media stars, it's also created a social media billionaire.

Zhang Yiming, the 35-year-old software engineer who founded the app's parent company, now has a net worth of $16.2 billion, Forbes estimates. Despite being the 13th-wealthiest person in China as ranked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , Zhang is extremely private and little is known about his personal life.

Keep reading to learn everything we know about Zhang Yiming.

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See Also:

SEE ALSO: 200 Hong Kong restaurants have permanently shuttered since the protests started 5 months ago and the city's richest billionaire just pledged $25 million to help local eateries

DON'T MISS: Take a look inside the gala Marc Benioff hosted for USC, where the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed, James Corden emceed, and billionaires dined with Ashton Kutcher

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