Jack Ma tops China’s financial elite listicle
Alibaba’s Jack Ma leads the way in the annual Hurun China Rich List, which covers those with a net worth over two billion yuan ($209 million).
The listicle notes that Ma, 54, climbed back to the position of richest man in China, just weeks after announcing his retirement from Alibaba. “The US$10 billion growth in his wealth to US$39 billion was mainly due to a new round of investment in Alipay’s mothership, Ant Financial. Jack Ma founded two of China’s most valuable companies.”
“By the end of September 2018, Alibaba’s market value hit US$390 billion, making it the most valuable company from China and top 10 in the world, whilst the value of Ant Financial shot past US$100 billion. Ma’s successor, Daniel Zhang Yong, also made the list with US$580 million, ranking him at 1,007. Ma made 90% of his fortune after the age of 50, which should give people under the age of 50 a lot of hope.”
JD.com
JD.com’s Liu Qiangdong came in at 30th with US$11 billion, up 7% on last year but down significantly from a high in January before a rape accusation in the US contributed to a crash in the share price of the e-commerce giant. His wealth did, however, gain pace after a successful B round financing in JD Finance.