Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 101–125, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced

2026-11-10T12:10:14Z

New profile (Forbes real-time rank 101–125, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced

New page

{{short description|'''Chinese computer scientist; co-founder, chairman and chief executive of the AI chip designer Cambricon Technologies'''}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Chen Tianshi
| birth_date = {{Start date|1985}} (Cambricon annual report)
| nationality = Chinese
| residence = Beijing, China (Forbes)
| occupation = Computer scientist, business executive
| known_for = Co-founder, chairman and general manager of [[Cambricon Technologies]]
| education = [[University of Science and Technology of China]] (BSc 2005; PhD 2010)
}}

'''Chen Tianshi''' (陈天石; born 1985) is a Chinese computer scientist and the co-founder, chairman and general manager (chief executive) of [[Cambricon Technologies]], a Beijing-based designer of artificial-intelligence (AI) chips listed on the [[Shanghai Stock Exchange]]'s STAR Market.<ref name="cam_ar25">Cambricon Technologies Corporation Limited, [https://static.cninfo.com.cn/finalpage/2026-03-13/1225007336.PDF 中科寒武纪科技股份有限公司2025年年度报告 (Cambricon Technologies Corporation Limited 2025 annual report)] ''Shanghai Stock Exchange filing via CNINFO'', 13 March 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="fortune25">Dave Smith, [https://fortune.com/2025/10/24/cambricon-china-nvidia-revenue-stock-frenzy-ceo-chen-tianshi-worlds-richest-people/ 'The Nvidia of China' says revenue spiked 14X last quarter. The ensuing stock frenzy made its CEO one of the world's richest people] ''Fortune'', 24 October 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> He founded the company in 2016 with his elder brother, [[Chen Yunji]], as a spin-off from the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]]' [[Institute of Computing Technology]], where both were researchers.<ref name="cas24">赵广立 (Zhao Guangli), [https://www.cas.cn/cm/202409/t20240919_5032256.shtml 开创“寒武纪” (Founding "Cambricon")] ''中国科学报 (China Science Daily), republished by the Chinese Academy of Sciences'', 19 September 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="yicai26">Yicai, [https://english.sse.com.cn/news/newsrelease/voice/c/c_20260318_10812206.shtml Cambricon Posts First Annual Profit] ''Yicai Global, republished by the Shanghai Stock Exchange'', 13 March 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="fortune25" /> Cambricon's 2025 annual report names him as its controlling shareholder and actual controller.<ref name="cam_ar25" /> On 20 October 2026 the [[Forbes]] Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Chen Tianshi 102nd in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$24.69 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Semiconductors.<ref name="fp_chen_tianshi">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/chen-tianshi.json Forbes profile record for Chen Tianshi (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/chen-tianshi/)] ''Forbes'', live record, read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="ForbesRTB">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/rtb/0/position/true.json Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed] ''Forbes'', live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Chen Tianshi 123rd, at US$20.7 billion.<ref name="ForbesAnnual">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/billionaires/2026/position/true.json Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read)] ''Forbes'', annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Chen and his brother come from Nanchang in Jiangxi province, and both studied in the special class for gifted young students at the [[University of Science and Technology of China]] (USTC).<ref name="cas24" /> According to USTC's School of Computer Science, he entered the gifted-youth class in 2001, gained a bachelor's degree in science in 2005 and a doctorate in engineering from the university's computer school in 2010, and joined the [[Institute of Computing Technology]] the same year.<ref name="ustc_cts">School of Computer Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, [https://en.cs.ustc.edu.cn/2020/0912/c23613a467045/page.htm 陈天石（01少/0711博） (Chen Tianshi, gifted-youth class of 2001 / PhD 2007–11)] ''USTC School of Computer Science and Technology'', 12 September 2020, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Cambricon's annual report describes his doctorate as being in computer software and theory.<ref name="cam_ar25" />

== Research career ==
Cambricon's annual report says Chen worked at the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]]' [[Institute of Computing Technology]] (ICT) from 2010 to 2019, rising from assistant researcher to researcher and doctoral supervisor, and that he has been a visiting researcher there since October 2019.<ref name="cam_ar25" /> A 2024 profile in ''China Science Daily'', republished by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describes how the brothers worked on combining AI algorithms with processor design at ICT, at a time when the field was out of favour.<ref name="cas24" /> USTC records that he was named one of China's science newsmakers of 2019.<ref name="ustc_cts" />

== Cambricon Technologies ==
According to the ''China Science Daily'' profile, Cambricon was established in 2016 with backing from ICT and venture-capital investors. Its Cambricon-1A processor, used in a [[Huawei]] smartphone in 2017, was described as the first commercial deep-learning processor. The company listed on the STAR Market on 20 July 2020, 116 days after filing its prospectus.<ref name="cas24" /> ''Fortune'' reported that its customers include [[Alibaba]], [[Tencent]] and [[Baidu]].<ref name="fortune25" />

Cambricon made its first annual profit in 2025. Its annual report gives revenue of CNY6.497 billion, up 453.21% on the year.<ref name="cam_ar25" /> Yicai reported net profit of CNY2.1 billion, against a loss the previous year, and said the shares were briefly the most expensive on the Chinese mainland in August 2025.<ref name="yicai26" /> ''Fortune'' linked the company's growth to Chinese efforts to replace restricted US chips after American export bans on advanced AI processors.<ref name="fortune25" />

== Ownership and wealth ==
At 31 December 2025 Chen held 119,530,650 Cambricon shares directly, 28.35% of the company. The annual report also says he is the actual controller of the partnership Beijing Aixi Technology Centre (北京艾溪科技中心), which held 7.27%.<ref name="cam_ar25" /> The second-largest shareholder was Beijing Zhongke Suanyuan Asset Management (北京中科算源资产管理有限公司), with 15.57%; the report classes it as a state-owned legal-person shareholder.<ref name="cam_ar25" /> Sina Finance's shareholder table shows Chen with 178,100,669 shares at 30 June 2026, still 28.35%.<ref name="sina_688256">Sina Finance, [https://vip.stock.finance.sina.com.cn/corp/go.php/vCI_StockHolder/stockid/688256/displaytype/30.phtml 寒武纪(688256)主要股东 (Cambricon (688256) principal shareholders)] ''新浪财经 (Sina Finance)'', data to 30 June 2026, published 8 August 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> The report gives his 2025 pre-tax pay from the company as CNY1.4642 million.<ref name="cam_ar25" />

[[Forbes]] gives semiconductors as his source of wealth and notes that the [[Institute of Computing Technology]] still holds a minority stake in Cambricon.<ref name="fp_chen_tianshi" /> ''Fortune'' reported in October 2025 that a surge in the share price after quarterly results had made him one of the world's 100 richest people.<ref name="fortune25" />

== Wealth history ==
[[Forbes]] has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 6 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2021. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.<ref name="ForbesAnnual" /><ref name="fp_chen_tianshi" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Forbes estimates by list year
! Year !! World's Billionaires rank !! Net worth (US$ bn)
|-
| 2021 || 1111 || 2.8
|-
| 2022 || 1818 || 1.6
|-
| 2023 || 1804 || 1.6
|-
| 2024 || 1143 || 2.9
|-
| 2025 || 191 || 12.5
|-
| 2026 || 123 || 20.7
|}

== Philanthropy ==
No documented philanthropic programme in Chen's name was found in the sources checked.

== Political activity ==
No party, legislative or advisory-body positions, political donations or lobbying registrations were found for Chen in the sources checked.

== Controversies and legal issues ==
In December 2022 the US Bureau of Industry and Security added [[Cambricon Technologies]] and several of its subsidiaries, together with the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]]' [[Institute of Computing Technology]], to the [[Entity List]]. It said the entities had acquired or attempted to acquire US-origin items in support of China's military modernisation, and that they were, or had close ties to, government organisations supporting the Chinese military and defence industry.<ref name="fr_el22">Bureau of Industry and Security, US Department of Commerce, [https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-12-19/html/2022-27151.htm Additions and Revisions to the Entity List and Conforming Removal From the Unverified List (87 FR 77505)] ''Federal Register, vol. 87, no. 242 (document 2022-27151)'', 19 December 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> Cambricon's annual report lists the designation as a supply-chain risk.<ref name="cam_ar25" /> The listing applies to the companies, not to Chen personally.<ref name="fr_el22" />

== International and political links ==
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."

=== Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements) ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Jewish communal charities ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Gulf states ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== China ===
Cambricon was spun out of the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]]' [[Institute of Computing Technology]], and a state-owned asset manager, Beijing Zhongke Suanyuan, is its second-largest shareholder (15.57% at the end of 2025).<ref name="cas24" /><ref name="cam_ar25" /> Chen has been a visiting researcher at the institute since 2019.<ref name="cam_ar25" />

=== Russia ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== India ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Palestinian or Arab causes ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Home government ===
Company level: in December 2022 the United States placed Cambricon and its subsidiaries on the [[Entity List]], citing support for China's military modernisation.<ref name="fr_el22" />

=== Other international links ===
Company level: the US [[Entity List]] designation (2022) restricts Cambricon's access to US-origin technology.<ref name="fr_el22" /><ref name="fortune25" />

== See also ==
* [[Cambricon Technologies]]
* [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]]

== External links ==
* [https://www.cambricon.com/ Cambricon Technologies]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Businesspeople|Chen, Tianshi]]
[[Category:Living people|Chen, Tianshi]]
[[Category:Chinese billionaires|Chen, Tianshi]]
[[Category:Artificial intelligence|Chen, Tianshi]]
[[Category:China|Chen, Tianshi]]

Chen Tianshi - Revision history

Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 101–125, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced