Bloomberg vs Zhang Yiming
Bloomberg L.P. and ByteDance.
The differences
- Forbes puts Zhang Yiming about $5.9B ahead of Michael Bloomberg.Forbes figures from 4 Sep 2026 and 9 Oct 2026.
- Both started the company their money comes from.
- Michael Bloomberg is about 41 years older than Zhang Yiming.
- Michael Bloomberg has signed the Giving Pledge; Zhang Yiming has not.
- Michael Bloomberg is from United States; Zhang Yiming is from China.
Put someone else on either side
Side by side
Bloomberg
Zhang YimingThe money
- Net worth, Forbes
- $94.9BForbes, 9 Oct 2026
- $101BForbes, 4 Sep 2026
- Net worth, Bloomberg
- Not stated
- $105BBloomberg, 10 Oct 2026
- Forbes rank
- No. 20Real-Time list, 9 Oct 2026
- No. 28Real-Time list, 16 Jun 2026
- Billionaire since
- Not stated
- 2018First year on Forbes' World's Billionaires list: Forbes says he 'debuted' on it in March 2018 with $4 billion
Where it came from
- How it started
- Founded itFounded Bloomberg L.P. in 1981 after leaving Salomon Brothers; Forbes says he put in the seed funding
- Co-founded itByteDance was founded in 2012 by a team led by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo; Forbes labels him self-made
- Main source
- Bloomberg L.P.
- ByteDance stock (TikTok, Douyin, Toutiao)Bloomberg: 'Zhang Yiming's wealth is derived from his stake in ByteDance'
- Companies
- Bloomberg L.P.Bloomberg L.P.: Founder and majority owner
- ByteDanceByteDance: Co-founder; no executive role
- Biggest stake
- Bloomberg L.P.88% owned
- ByteDance21% owned
The person
- Born
- 14 Feb 1942Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- 1983Yongding District, Longyan, Fujian, China
- Country
- United StatesLives in New York City, United States
- ChinaLives in Singapore
- Education
- Graduate degreeBS in electrical engineering, Johns Hopkins University; MBA, Harvard Business School (1966)
- Bachelor's degreeBachelor of Engineering, Nankai University (graduated 2005)
- Parents
- Grew up in a middle-class home in Medford, Massachusetts; worked in a parking lot and took government loans to pay for Johns HopkinsParents' occupations not stated
- The only son of civil servants, raised in Longyan, Fujian province
What they give
- Giving Pledge
- Signed in 2010
- Not a signer
- Foundation
- Bloomberg PhilanthropiesCovers his foundation, corporate and personal giving
- Not stated
- Lifetime giving
- $25.4BForbes, 31 Dec 2025. Forbes' estimate of lifetime giving through the end of 2025, counting only money given to charitable recipients
- Not stated
Role and record
- Role now
- OwnerFounder and majority owner of Bloomberg L.P.; founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies; UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions
- Founder, no executive roleCo-founder of ByteDance; left the CEO post in May 2021 and the chairmanship later that year
- Successor
- Vlad Kliatchko, CEO since 2023 and chairNo ownership successor or family executive named in the cited sources
- Liang Rubo, ByteDance co-founder, became CEO in 2021 and is chairman
- Public office
- Mayor of New York City; UN Special Envoy on Cities and Climate Change; UN Special Envoy for Climate Action, later Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions; WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries2002-2013; 2014; 2018-present; 2016-present
- None found
- Legal record
- None found
- None found
