Founder of TikTok parent company lost $17b in 2022

Zhang Yiming, the founder of TikTok parent company ByteDance, saw his personal fortune fall by $17 billion last year, according to a new Chinese ranking published Thursday.

The reasons for the losses are unknown, but Zhang is still the second-richest entrepreneur in the world under the age of 40, with wealth valued at $37 billion, according to statistics published by the Chinese firm Hurun.

Ahead of him is Mark Zuckerberg, boss of US tech giant Meta -- the owner of Facebook and Instagram -- whose fortune was estimated by Hurun at $68 billion.

According to the ranking, Zuckerberg also lost money last year to the tune of $8 billion.

Zhang co-founded ByteDance in Beijing in 2012, but resigned from the group in 2021 in the midst of regulatory tightening on China’s tech industry.

A Chinese citizen, Zhang is now based in Singapore.