Jack Ma richest Chinese
October 28, 2014
Forbes reported Tuesday that the number of Chinese billionaires had been on the increase again over the past 12 months despite a slowdown in the Asian country's economy. The nation now boasts 242 billionaires, up from 168 in 2013, the magazine said.
The founder of online retailer Alibaba, Jack Ma, tops Forbes' "China Rich List 2014," with the entrepreneur's wealth ballooning to $19.5 billion (15.3 billion euros) after his company's record-breaking IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in September of this year.
Going public secured the former English teacher more than $800 million from selling shares, according to the company's filings.
Reshuffle at the top
Jack Ma thus managed to dethrone Wang Jianin whose private conglomerate Wanda bought US cinema chain AMC. Wang's wealth shrank to $13.2 billion after a challenging year in the property sector, making him end up in fourth place in 2014, Forbes explained.
In general terms, entrepreneurs active in the technology sector fared much better than those from traditional industries, with the first commanding the top three spots in the list of richest Chinese.
Ranking second is Robin Li, founder of Baidu, China's answer to Google, while Pony Ma of Tencent - parent of the country's most popular messaging app WeChat – took third place.
hg/cjc (AFP, www.forbes.com)