DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng is now the richest AI founder

Liang Wenfeng, the 40-year-old founder of Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek, has become the wealthiest AI founder in the world, with a net worth of $36 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The surge, more than doubling his previously estimated fortune of $16.7 billion, was driven by DeepSeek's landmark first external fundraising round, which closed in June.bloomberg+1

That fortune now places Liang well above OpenAI president Greg Brockman, whose stake in the ChatGPT maker is worth roughly $25.5 billion, and Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei, whose holdings are valued at approximately $8 billion. It also makes Liang one of China's ten richest individuals.economictimes+3

A Record-Breaking Fundraise

DeepSeek raised more than 50 billion yuan, or approximately $7.4 billion, in its debut external funding round, valuing the Hangzhou-based company at over $50 billion. Liang himself was the largest investor, contributing around 20 billion yuan of his own capital. Tencent committed roughly 10 billion yuan, while battery giant CATL Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited invested about 5 billion yuan, making them the two largest outside backers. Other participants included NetEase ↗ 2.01%, JD.com ↘ 0.82%, IDG Capital, and China's state-backed National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund.reuters+4

The deal's structure drew as much attention as the sum raised. As Forbes reported, most investors did not purchase equity directly in DeepSeek but instead placed their funds into a limited partnership controlled by Liang, with a five-year lock-up period and no voting rights. The sole exception was China's national AI fund, which invested directly and secured voting rights — a concession analysts described as giving Beijing a seat at the table.youtube+1

From Hedge Fund to AI Powerhouse

Liang co-founded High-Flyer Capital Management, a quantitative hedge fund, in 2015. The fund posted average returns of nearly 57 percent in 2025, according to Bloomberg. He used profits from High-Flyer to launch DeepSeek in 2023, and the company burst onto the global stage in January 2025 with its R1 model, which claimed performance comparable to OpenAI's ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost. The release temporarily rattled markets, sending shares of Nvidia ↘ 0.06% and other AI-linked stocks sharply lower.forbes+2

Liang retains an estimated 84 percent stake in DeepSeek, according to Chinese corporate registry Qichacha. With the company now valued in the range of $50 billion to $59 billion depending on the estimate used, that controlling position underpins the bulk of his fortune — a stake he has shown no intention of diluting.bloomberg+2