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Tencent CEO richest on new list

Writer:   | Editor: Betty Ye  | From:  | Updated: 2018-05-09

MA HUATENG, co-founder and CEO of Shenzhen-based Tencent, topped the latest list of 500 wealthiest individuals on the Chinese mainland, with a personal wealth of 279.4 billion yuan (US$44 billion), according to 2018 New Fortune 500 rich list released Monday by New Fortune magazine.

Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba, one of China’s Internet triumvirates known as BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent), came in second, with 260 billion yuan to his name.

Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Group and Wang Wei, chairman of SF Express, two leading Shenzhen-based companies, were ranked third and sixth on the fortune list, with their personal fortunes of 228.5 billion yuan and 135.9 billion yuan, respectively.

The total wealth of the top 10 billionaires reached 1.718 trillion yuan, accounting for 18 percent of the total wealth of all the people on the list.

Among the 500 richest people, 113 are from Guangdong, the only province with more than 100 billionaires. Among them, 61 people are from Shenzhen, including 14 people who made it on the list for the first time. The average age of Shenzhen billionaires is 53, and 12 of the billionaires came to the city for property development or related industries.

Compared to last year’s list, the total wealth of billionaires increased by 20 percent to 9.56 trillion yuan. The number of billionaires with assets of more than 10 billion yuan reached 297, 21 more than the previous year.

The wealth of Xu Jiayin more than quadrupled from 43.7 billion yuan to 228.5 billion yuan in 2018, a speed the New Fortune points out set a record, without predecessor or possible successor in the coming decades. Xu’s wealth growth, mainly resulting from the skyrocketing share prices of his company, has benefitted from the development of the real estate industry and China’s rapid urbanization.

The New Fortune lists Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang as the first-tier group with the richest people on the mainland.